Pour Some Sugar On Me
by perfect sorceress
Summary: Roxas is a super famous movie actor. Namine is the girl behind the ticket counter. They realize it's lonely both at the top AND the bottom. Maybe, hopefully, they can change all that? ROXINE
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Olette, etc.**

**Author's Note: WHOOO!! REMAKE!! Okay, this was fun. I admit it. It was a fun thing to do. And now that **_**HMTMKMKM**_** (abbreviation) is over, I needed something else for me to do in my free time! Since my first attempt at my previous story titled **_**Pour Some Sugar On Me**_** was basically a failure (I wasn't in my element I knew it), I changed it to fit **_**my **_**style! Enjoy!**

**Warning: GLAMOUR!! (Puts on sunglasses)**

**Quick Author Babble: I feel hyper, because I just ate Oreo cheesecake!**

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Chapter 1: Rich and Famous

Roxas Hernandez was successful—beyond successful. He had skipped grades through elementary school, breezed by middle school, had gotten outstanding marks in all his classes in high school, and seemed to pass his exams in university in flying colors with ease. All his teachers loved him. He was always the star student. He never got picked on either because of his fantastic looks, athletics, and charm.

Roxas first became a Federal Government employee. He worked there for a few years, and made quite a lot of money and was perfectly happy with his life. One day, however, one of Roxas's best friends, Pence Lee, a play director, visited him all in a huff, saying his main character had just quit on him and that his replacement had called in sick, and that he had no one to replace him. Pence suggested Roxas, saying "he'd always been so good in acting in high school" and pleading him to do it because he had no one else.

So, out of the goodness of his heart, Roxas agreed.

He did a brilliant performance. Pence was in tears by the end of the show, especially when he got such great reviews in the paper and made so much money for the other shows he'd produced. In the crowd of the third show, however, was a famous director, looking for actors in his new movie, and decided to see the play that had gotten such good reviews.

The director consulted Roxas after the play was finished, saying he'd be perfect for the main character. And that was when Roxas had shone. That was when his acting career first budded.

That movie led to another, then another, and another! The offers never stopped coming, and Roxas couldn't bring himself to refuse. So, after much consideration, Roxas quit his job as a Federal Government employee and moved to Twilight Town, the home of budding stars.

It didn't take long before posters of Roxas were hanging on teenage girls' bedroom walls, his daily life was announced in the tabloids, he was in advertisements on television, on billboards advertising some toothpaste brand—he was being paid millions. He was drowning in money, but in a good way. No one hadn't heard of Roxas Hernandez.

And this exact article was put in the _Twilight Tabloid_ one fine, Sunday morning, and now everyone knew about Roxas's past life.

**xXx**

Roxas admonished his picture from when he was seven on the cover of the _Twilight Tabloid_ and the big, yellow font that said "HOT OFF THE PRESS: ROXAS'S PAST REVEALED!" and sighed. It wasn't even that interesting. He hadn't even told them anything. They probably just dug up scraps from his many profiles and turned them into something relatively interesting, made a huge headline, and tried to make people think it was something impressive.

Roxas wasn't even curious about what was in there. Whatever _was_ there, he probably didn't want to see it. All he truly wanted was to get his groceries and go home.

Some people would be astonished that Roxas did his grocery shopping on his own instead of ordering or getting his butler to do it like most celebrities did. Well, maybe they wouldn't, because that was the main article in the _Twilight Tabloid_ only a few days ago (THE BIG "R" GROCERY SHOPPING?) and it didn't have a very flattering picture with it. Roxas had his hand blocking his eyes from the bright, sudden flashes from the cameras and he was standing beside a grocery cart that bumped into some old lady since he backed into it.

But all that put aside, Roxas didn't have a butler. He didn't need a butler. No one really _needed_ a butler. They just had them around because they were too lazy and they wanted to show off they were rich. And besides which, Roxas never was a very showy kind of person. He lived in a huge mansion, sure, but that was about as far as he would go, limousine excluded (boy, they were comfortable!). He didn't have bodyguards following him everywhere, and he didn't sport off the latest men's fashion. He didn't have a different model girlfriend every week and he didn't attend many parties that were sure to have paparazzi hanging around. He just happened to be rich and famous. He was still the same Roxas inside. He was just…well off.

Roxas started putting his groceries onto the slowly moving counter, and by the time he reached the young grocery girl behind the counter, he knew what to expect.

"OH MY GOD!" she squealed. "YOU'RE ROXAS HERNANDEZ!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep it down, will you?" Roxas begged.

He looked around. The people behind him were gaping at him.

"HEY, EVERYONE, IT'S ROXAS HERNANDEZ!" the little girl behind him cried.

People surrounded him, begging him for his autograph, taking pictures of him with their cell phones. Roxas groaned.

Maybe he should rethink hiring bodyguards.

**xXx**

After finally managing to pay for his groceries and racing out of the grocery store, Roxas leaped into the back of his limousine.

"Home, quick!" he ordered to the driver, looking out the back window to see fans still racing after him.

The limousine screeched off, leaving the fans astounded in the parking lot.

**xXx**

"Thanks, Wentworth."

Roxas thanked his driver as he stepped out of his limousine and entered his grand mansion. It looked magnificent—first there was a large array of red and yellow tulips along the huge walkway. The red tulips were in a different garden then the yellow, making the entrance seem even grander. Turquoise benches sat along the sides of the red tulips, a great place if you just want to stay outside and talk with your friends. The mansion itself was made of a sort of pinkish orange brick, with four sturdy columns standing in front of the entrance to the house, which were actually three doors. The ceiling was a vibrant green, with three windows on the very top. Big windows were scattered below the roof, and two, white walkways descended from either side of the mansion.

Roxas walked to the side of the tulips and entered through one of the three doors. Inside was just as fancy. A black and white tiled floor covered the foyer, many green plants giving life to the giganticness of it all. Everything was made of dark, perfect wood, from the drawers to the doors. Roxas breathed in the cool, lovely air, running his hand across the stony walls as he made his way to the kitchen. He loved the way the sandy stone felt beneath his fingertips.

The kitchen, unlike the rest of the mansion, was ultra-modern. The counter had a pearl top and three, round lights hung overhead, illuminating the already bright room. There were two stoves, once bigger than the other, and the tap was truly a piece of art. Roxas just had to say if he wanted hot or cold water for it to pour.

Walking over to the bowl of fruit on the counter, Roxas grabbed a red delicious apple and took a huge bite out of it. A crunch echoed through the room. Roxas sighed. It was kind of boring with only him here, and it got kind of creepy when it got darker. Roxas got lonely when his friends weren't around, but he couldn't be out in public until things died down.

As if reading his mind, the doorbell rang.

Roxas lazily stood up, disposed of his apple core and trekked through the long hallway up to the door. Opening the door, a girl with dark brown hair messily tied into braids and bright green eyes stood before him.

"Hi, Roxas!" she chirped.

"Hi, Olette," Roxas replied.

Olette Rodriguez was a friend of Roxas's that he'd met when he first got to Twilight Town. She was a photographer. Her photos were usually put in displays. Flowers and sunsets were her main things to take pictures of.

"I just thought I'd stop by and see how your tulips are doing!" she explained. "I've been waiting forever to get the perfect shots of them and they were truly the best I've seen from the beginning! Of course, I have to wait until they're fully grown…"

Olette looked a little troubled by this. She was very nice and understanding but quite impatient.

"I think they're as full as they're going to get," Roxas replied, thinking about the luscious flowers.

"Great!" she chirped. "Do you mind…?"

"No, of course not!" answered Roxas before she even finished the question.

She smiled gratefully and walked over to the yellow tulips, which were closest. Roxas followed her outside and closed the door behind him.

"Yes, perfect color, perfect shape, perfect size!" Olette said, shaping her fingers like a camera lens and admonishing the tulips through them.

She grabbed for the real camera around her neck and knelt down, deciding on a perfect position. She took quite a while doing this. Finally, she snapped a picture. She turned her thin form left, then right, then backwards, then forwards, snapping pictures every time she changed position.

"So, Olette…" Roxas began, feeling quite awkward with the silence, "any good pictures lately?"

"No," Olette replied swiftly. "Nothing special, anyway. But I'm sure these will turn out great!"

She turned and gave a friendly smile before getting back to work. Roxas smiled too. This was why Olette was his friend—she knew him for him. She barely acknowledged the fact that he was a famous movie star. She didn't think of him as a character in a movie, or some picture hanging on her wall. To her, Roxas was Roxas, nothing more, nothing less.

"Hey, Olette, Roxas!"

Turning his head to see who had called his name, Roxas broke into a grin. Hayner Anderson, another friend he'd met earlier on in Twilight Town, was racing towards them, a loose, red tie flapping in the wind.

Hayner, another young, successful twenty-five year old like Roxas and Olette, was taller than Roxas, with a light blond buzz cut and playful, brown eyes that were always twinkling mischievously. He was on the famous basketball team, the Twilight Tigers and was quite rich himself. Hayner, much like Olette, ignored the fact that Roxas was a movie star. Sometimes, however, he'd bring up things like a billboard he saw that had Roxas smiling goofily, or brought the tabloids over to make fun of him. That's how Roxas had been familiar with the grocery store article.

"Thought I'd come over and talk to you about the deodorant commercial I saw last night with you in it..." Hayner said, plainly speaking to Roxas and not succeeding in keeping a straight face, "but here you are...with Olette. Hi, Olette!"

"Shush!" Olette hushed him, taking a few steps back and trying to decide what angle she would take from.

"Gee, _someone's _uptight today!"Hayner cried, rolling his eyes. "I was just being polite!"

He snapped his mouth shut as Olette glared at him most piercingly and pulled at his red tie nervously.

Roxas eyed his fancy getup. He was wearing grey, dress pants and a white, long-sleeved shirt with a red tie, and his shoes were shiny, clearly polished, black dress shoes.

"What's with the fancy getup?" Roxas asked.

"Coach made us come to some boring banquet," Hayner replied, releasing a fake yawn. "There was an important speech during it."

"What was it about?" Roxas questioned.

"I don't know, I fell asleep as soon as the guy started talking," Hayner answered.

Olette clacked her tongue disapprovingly.

"What?!" Hayner snapped defensively. "It was _boring_! Plus, I usually fall asleep after I eat!"

Olette looked at him and rolled her eyes before turning back to her camera and trying once again to get into the perfect position.

"But you're right," Hayner agreed, turning back to Roxas. "This tie is stupid."

"Ah ha!" Olette cried suddenly. "That's it!"

She placed her hands on the camera and looked ready to take the shot. Hayner pulled of his tie, and just as the camera flashed it went soaring into the yellow tulips, bending three of them.

"HAYNER!!" Olette shouted, looking like she could kill the brown-eyed man. "I JUST GOT INTO THE PERFECT POSITION!! HOW COULD YOU RUIN THAT SHOT FOR ME??"

"Ah...Olette...it was a complete accident...Terribly sorry..." Hayner stuttered.

"If I were you, I'd start running," Roxas suggested, looking at Olette's green eyes, which looked like they were spitting fire.

Hayner gulped and raced off, but was slowed down slightly by his black dress shoes which were pinching his feet. Olette chased after him, swinging her camera like a weapon.

"Calm down, Olette!" Roxas laughed, leaning over and picking up Hayner's battered tie and sprucing up the tulips that were bent. "You can try another time."

Olette stopped running and gave Hayner a dirty look before returning back to her original position. After she took the picture, after about fifteen minutes of deciding the best angle, they went inside to watch television. The living room was beautiful. It was circular, with three, glass windows that the sunlight gorgeously shone through. Couch chairs of red, khaki, and orange were generously spread out, and an ornate, glass table in the middle had a vase of lilies sitting upon it. Four grand, white columns were to the side of the entrance, and the living room led out to one of the walkways on the side of the mansion.

But what caught Hayner's eye most was the gigantic, hundred and ten inch television set that sat upright against the otherwise blank wall. Roxas could tell because he plopped down on the nearest comfy chair to the television and switched it on.

"Roxas, you have the best home ever."

Hayner sighed happily and leaned back comfortably in his chair as he switched through the near thousand channels.

"Agreed," Olette said, sitting down in her own chair but not paying much attention the television, but more out the window at the beautiful scenery of the garden. "It's so lovely, Roxas. Sometimes I wish I had as much money as you. I'm so incredibly jealous."

Roxas felt a little shocked and dismayed at the fact that Olette was now talking about his stardom when she usually avoided the subject.

"Hey, let's not talk about that," Roxas said. "Can't we talk about something else?"

His voice was sorrowful, almost pleading.

"Yeah, sure," Hayner remarked, breaking into a grin. "About that deodorant commercial..."

This was Roxas Hernandez's life. Easy, rich, famous. He had friends that tuck by him. He'd never had any problems that made him stop. He had never cursed his life once. Yet sometimes he couldn't help but think it was a blessing, but somehow also a punishment. He had never had a girlfriend. Ever. No girl had ever gotten the strength to ask him out. They all thought he was too good for them.

Yes, he was at the top. But no one else seemed to reach it except him, and oh, it was so lonely at the top, and all he could do is sit there, waiting. Waiting for someone to come and be at the top with him, hoping that someone might bring him down from the top, save him from the eternal loneliness that he'd suffered through. But no one ever came.

**The first chapter is done! My only request is to read and review, review, review! I'll accept any review, seriously. Bad or good, it doesn't matter. I just love hearing what you think, and seeing what I could adjust would be simply fantabulous! So, just, you know...**

**Read and review!**

**Hugs and kisses!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Kairi, etc.**

**Author's Note: Whoo! Fourteen reviews in one chapter! I am so pleased. (Smiles brightly). I hope you all understand I cannot reply to them all, so I'm only doing a quick summary of them. Anyway, this is a Naminé POV chapter. Hope you like it!**

**Warning: Some mentions of a very depressing life are contained in this chapter.**

**Quick Author Babble: I'm sorry for you, people who actually have to live in such conditions as Naminé.**

Chapter 2: Poor and Unknown

Naminé Clark was a very, very unlucky girl. She was brilliant, or so her high school teachers had said, and everyone had been pretty sure she'd make it to a top university. However, right after her graduation and all her applications had been sent in, her family was hit hard. Her mother had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

It was traumatic. Naminé's father had died when Naminé was only twelve years old from a fatal car accident. Mrs. Clark had basically been holding up the whole family, which was difficult since she had a rather humble job that didn't pay well in the least. Naminé had a younger brother named Tidus. Tidus was still in school as he was only fourteen and was too young to work, or at least work to some extent that paid about five dollars an hour.

So it was now all up to Naminé to hold up the family. When she got accepted to a top university, she refused. She had to stay home and take care of her family and could not move so far away. So she applied for a job at the local cinema.

Everyone was absolutely shocked. Naminé certainly had potential, and because of this stroke of bad luck she had lost the gorgeous and wealthy life she could've had. Naminé didn't muse on it though. It wasn't like it was anyone's fault.

But Naminé felt herself working harder than ever. She worked from morning to night before she got raised in salary—now she wasn't making bad money, just enough to hold up the desperate family, but she still had to work intensely.

She barely ever had time off and lost most of her friends this way. But she couldn't take a break. How could anyone expect her to? The weight of her family lied on her shoulders.

333

Naminé woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, blinking blearily at the light that hit her eyes. The noisy clock that she felt like knocking off the shelf everyday read six o'clock on the dot. She got extra money for setting up the movie theatre before it opened, and she never missed the opportunity.

Saturdays were especially busy. They were both Naminé's greatest and worst days. On one hand, she got more money than on other days. On the other hand, she had to work her butt off to get through them. But it was worth it. Anything was worth it.

Sliding out from under her bedcovers, she hurriedly got dressed into her uniform which she dreaded so much. They were truly horrible, all black with an embarrassing cap saying "Sunset Cinema" on it, then a crimson apron that went around the waist. She looked ridiculous when she put it on.

Plopping the cap on her head, she hop-skipped out of her bedroom, entering the hallway to the sound of Tidus's loud snores. He was never up when she left, but still knowing he was there was comforting. Tidus and Naminé had always been close. When he was younger, Naminé would explain to Tidus what their father had been like, as he couldn't remember him since he had only been one when he died. Tidus would show her things he found interesting in return, like a frog he'd found in the garden, or an anthill. After their mother told them she had cancer, the two had never been closer. Tidus had almost seemed frightened, even, at this idea—confused by it. It was too much for a seven year old boy to comprehend.

But they'd made it through it, somehow, and Naminé was just thanking everything she could think of that her mother was still alive. She was praying that her mother would live through this, as lung cancer was very difficult to live through, especially without the right care, and with the family's budget, she'd be lucky to get a cough drop.

As Naminé walked down the stairs, she saw her mother lying white as a sheet, coughing weakly. She was curled up under blankets, looking withered and small. She was very thin now. She had lost so much weight to cancer. Her withered, dirty blond hair fell helplessly around her face.

"Mom?" she whispered.

Her mother looked up at her with tired, cobalt eyes and a weak smile.

"Good morning, Naminé," she croaked hoarsely.

"When did you get up?" Naminé asked, rather upset. "You're supposed to be upstairs in bed, sleeping."

"Tidus helped me down here last night to watch TV," Mrs. Clark replied. "He stayed up for as long as he could, but he was yawning, so I told him to go to bed."

"You mean you were up the whole night? Why didn't you tell me? How are you supposed to rest if you're up all day watching TV?"

"Don't worry, Naminé. I just wanted to leave that blasted room. I've been locked up in there for a long time and I wanted to do something…"

"Ugh, Mom…" Naminé groaned. "You're sick. You should take better care of yourself."

"Don't act as if I might break any second!" Mrs. Clark replied. "I'm a Clark! I'm strong! Now you should hurry to work, or you'll be late."

Naminé kissed her mom on the forehead and quickly left the house. She really worried about that woman. She was just too bold.

She breathed in the fresh air, gulping as much as she could before she had to enter the popcorn-smelling hellhole. As she reached the movie theatre, she rapped on the door. Her manager, Squall "Call-me-Leon" Leonhart answered.

"Hi, Leon!" she chirped.

"Naminé, I appreciate you coming here this early," Leon said curtly, "but we had a little…accident with the soda machine yesterday."

"Demyx?" questioned Naminé from experience.

"Demyx," Leon repeated with a quick nod.

Demyx was a very clumsy worker who worked behind the snack counter. Last week the popcorn machine had nearly exploded.

"Due to this little problem, the cinema will be closed today for obvious reasons," Leon continued, handing her a check. "Here's your pay. Go out and have some fun."

Before Naminé could reply, he slammed the door in her face and she could hear him sloshing away through the puddle of soda on the floor. She sighed. She'd been hoping to make more money today. As she turned, a smile alighted her features at the red-haired girl and blue-eyed boy standing in front of her. They were her two best friends in the world—Kairi Thomas and Sora Scott.

"Kairi! Sora!" Naminé cried out in pleasant surprise at the sight of the two of them this early in the morning.

"Hi, Naminé!" Kairi chirped.

Sora grumbled something or other. His eyes were half-closed, and his head was already falling onto Kairi's shoulder. Kairi shoved him off with a sigh.

"How the heck did you manage to get him up this early?" Naminé asked.

"It's easy, really," Kairi replied. "I just have to give him this look and he'll do anything."

Her bottom lip stuck out and trembled in a pouty manner, her eyes widening like a kitten's. Naminé laughed.

"I hate you," Sora snapped at both Kairi and Naminé. "You're evil, waking me up at six in the morning! I swear, one day, I'll kill you both…"

"Hey, I wasn't the one who woke you up!" Naminé cried, raising her hands in surrender.

"Oh, Sora, you're such a whiner," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, we came here because we know you like to come here this early and thought we'd keep you company as you work!"

"Well, you're wasting your time," Naminé stated, frowning. "There was an accident with the soda machine. The cinema's closed for repair."

"Did you hear that, Kairi?" Sora asked through gritted teeth. "We're wasting our time!"

"Great going, Kairi, he's going to be crabby like this the whole day now!" Naminé cried.

Kairi waved her hand dismissively.

"We'll give him a cup of coffee, he'll be fine," she said. "Anyway, we are not wasting our time! That means we can have fun! C'mon, Nam, it's just one day!"

Naminé gave a small smile and nodded.

"I don't think I'm up to your little activities," Sora remarked crabbily, "especially if it involves a mall."

"Don't worry, we'll only be there for a short while," Kairi said.

She gave him a small peck on the lips, grabbed his hand, and marched off down the street. Naminé gave a little sigh. Sora and Kairi had been together for who knew how long, and she couldn't help thinking they were perfect for each other. Sometimes she was a little jealous of Kairi because she seemed to have the best life a girl could have—a job as a model that paid excellently, an awesome condo, and a perfect boyfriend. She was also really nice, loaning Naminé money whenever she needed it. The pair had been best friends since their freshman year in high school and had been unseparable ever since. They shared the same hobbies. They had the same friends. They liked the same music. People even started to say they _looked_ the same.

Sora had come into the picture the next year when he showed up in their history class first term. Kairi and Naminé whispered about him constantly for the first week, as he happened to sit right beside the redhead and, in Kairi's words "seemed absolutely adorable" because he seemed to turn red at everything, and had habits like scratching the back of his head a lot and leaning back in his chair and using the palms of his hands as a headrest. He also happened to fall asleep at his desk and bite his lip when he didn't understand something. These had been the mental notes Kairi and Naminé had made while watching him. Kairi, however, seemed to take extra interest in the boy, even more so than Naminé. She had been the one to watch him more than healthy while Naminé doodled in her history book. She'd been the one to tell Naminé that Sora had the most gorgeous eyes she'd ever seen, as blue as the ocean. And yes, she was the one to bring up even the embarrassing kind of stuff to talk about him, like how cute his butt was, but Naminé always shushed her because her face was bright pink.

Then that fateful day happened. No more than two weeks into the first term, they were given a big assignment—a partner assignment. It didn't take very long before Naminé and Kairi was standing up and yelling, "We're partners, professor!"

But that scummy old teacher, the one that Kairi was now hopelessly devoted to, was already tired of Kairi and Naminé's closeness, so he said, "A bit of a change might be good, I think." So he assigned Sora to be Kairi's partner. And Naminé? She got irritating, lazy Seifer, who did nothing but sit on his butt and complain there was too much work.

Naminé complained about this for awhile, wondering why _she_ didn't get Sora, the boy they were technically stalking, and got the class bum. But all her moans seemed to drift right through Kairi, because she, of course, had _not_ been stuck with Seifer "Does-Nothing" Almasy, but with the boy who she, unadmittedly, had been crushing on since the beginning of the term.

Grr!

Naminé seethed about Kairi's luck that day, but was invited over for a study party that no one ever studies in anyway. So was Sora. Seifer was not. Like he'd do anything besides.

So, well, it was the whole cliché movie-type thing that no one ever believes will happen in real life, but as it turns out, Kairi's life happened to _be_ one of those romance movies where the heroine gets everything she's ever dreamed of, or so it appeared.

They fell in love and didn't have a single problem and they are still together and probably will be for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes, when Naminé was aggravated enough, it was almost sickening.

Still, she was happy for her friends, especially Kairi, who didn't even have the word "complain" in her vocabulary anymore.

However, Naminé always felt distant when she saw Sora and Kairi together like that, holding hands and walking and talking about whatever, even though they were right beside her. She felt lonely, and really she _was_ and had been ever since her mother was diagnosed with cancer. There was no time for dating. No time for shopping for clothes, or looking at jewelry, or _anything_ fun. Naminé had a right to be jealous of Kairi. She had more right than anyone else in this town.

"What's wrong, Nam?" Kairi asked her, looking at her friend's teary-eyed face.

"N-Nothing."

The blond girl quickly looked up and smiled, blinking the water away. Kairi took a moment before grinning back. Sora, however, did not—he was giving Naminé a stare that made her feel like he was looking right through her. Her smile faded from her face, replaced with a bewildered look. She hoped Sora was doing this because of lack of sleep, even though she had a pretty good feeling he wasn't. But dear God, she wished that was the case.

Kairi, too, noticed Sora's lack of happiness, but instead of worrying about it, she frowned at him.

"Boy, you're crabby today!" she cried. "The only other times you act like this is when I mention Roxas."

Sora's expression seemed to change completely—he went from frowning to mere irritation, glaring at Kairi as she mocked him by saying "Roxas" dreamily.

"He's annoying," he said flatly. "An absolute fake. Have you heard that line in his newest movie? 'No, Jane, I cannot let you die! I love you! I will give you the kiss of life!' Yeah, right..."

Naminé gave something between a snort and a giggle. Kairi glared at her while Sora gave her a thumbs up. Since Naminé worked in the cinema, she saw most of the new movies when they came out. Roxas was a well-known movie star who Kairi happened to be totally in love with. He received the opposite reaction from Sora, however. Naminé thought he was so corny his right place should be in a vegetable garden, but did not _hate_ him, per say.

"Oh, come on, Sora!" Kairi retorted. "He is such a great actor! So versatile, so charming, and more importantly, _so_ good-looking..."

She gave a mischievous, little smile, tapping her cheek with her index finger, one eyebrow raised.

"Wouldn't mind going out with him sometime..." she murmured.

"_Kairi!_" Sora yelled.

"Only if he asked!" Kairi explained, rather alarmed. "I'm just saying he's handsome, is all. Nothing to write home about."

She laughed at Sora's unamused face.

"Oh, c'mon, Sora, I'm not going to leave you for _Roxas Hernandez_. It's just a silly fantasy. You're far more special to me."

Sora smiled as they resumed walking, Naminé dawdling behind them.

She wished she had what they had—togetherness, care, love. Maybe if she got out a little more, she could. But she couldn't. Her family needed her. Today had been one day in years when she'd had a day off. She doubted she was going to meet Prince Charming in one day.

Still, Naminé dreamed of a knight in shining armor coming to rescue her from her dreaded, popcorn-smelling tower. She wouldn't mind a happily ever after, if there was ever such a thing.

**Okay, quick, zap, review time! (Grabs bottle of Gatorade) Drum roll, please!**

**I am glad you all like it! Seriously, I mean, WOW!**

**GROCERY SHOPPING! WHOO!**

**I want good feedback for this chapter, I want to know what you think, zesty!**

**Naminé comes in on this chapter!**

**I'm glad you like the characters, Malcolm!**

**Thanks so much, Random Vampire! **

**I don't know how I do it, heartbrokensora. I just write my ideas, and, well, some are more popular than others. Thanks sooooooooooo much for that, you get a whole box of cookies!**

**Thank you, all of the people who reviewed HMTMKMKM! **

**And if I did not mention you specifically, I really, really appreciate all the great reviews I received! Honestly, guys, they make me really happy! So keep reviewing after I stop drowning myself in Gatoradeeeeeeeeee...**

**Read and review!**

**Happy belated Earth Day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Hayner, etc.**

**Author's Note: I completed this in one afternoon! I can't believe it! I'm so happy! It was a lot of fun! **

**Warning: No warnings! Yay!**

**Quick Author Babble: The moment has arrived…the moment you have all been waiting for…**

Chapter 3: Good Times at the Movie Theatre

Roxas sliced vegetables in the kitchen, blue eyes lazily watching the knife slice through the cucumber. What a boring day. He had nothing to do but sit around and try not to roast during the summer months. Also, school was released, which meant more fan girls, which also meant less Roxas. So he was a little disappointed when his friends didn't bother to stop by.

Lost in thought, silence overwhelming him, Roxas was taken by surprise as the phone started ringing ferociously. The knife slipped out of his hand, skimming his thumb. Though the blade barely made contact, a slight cut was made, little drops of blood appearing.

"_Ow!"_ Roxas yelped, holding his hand.

He looked at the phone with extreme dislike and picked it up with his uninjured hand, sucking on his thumb.

"Hello?" he murmured, bored.

"Roxas, buddy, we've got a plan for today!" a familiar voice called through the phone line.

"Hayner?" questioned Roxas, perching the phone on his shoulder. "Listen, I've told you a million times, _I don't care what the tabloids say_…"

"No, not that!" cried Hayner quickly. "I mean, your new movie premieres today!"

"Oh, yeah…" Roxas muttered.

He'd completely forgotten. Honestly, though, he really didn't care.

"We're going to see it!" Hayner exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Roxas snapped. "No, Hayner, _no_. All the screaming fan girls, the autographs, the illegal picture-taking…just _no_."

"Aw, c'mon, all you do is hang around the house all day!" Hayner whined. "You're getting to be really boring, Roxas. If it weren't for the tabloids, I wouldn't even talk to you anymore. Oh, and also I _really_ like your TV. Where'd you get it? I've got to know…"

"Hayner," Roxas remarked icily. "No."

"Roxas, you're just a whiner, that's what you are!" Hayner continued in an annoying, high-pitched tone.

"Oh, come on, Roxas, just come with us!" a soft, girl's voice could be heard in the background.

"Olette?!" cried Roxas in surprise. "What are you doing with Hayner? Is there something I don't know about…?"

"Don't be stupid," Hayner snapped. "We're waiting outside of your mansion."

"Wha…?" Roxas muttered.

Then Hayner's voice, indeed very real and very close, echoed through the house.

"Open the door, you idiot!"

Roxas raced through the hallway to the foyer and threw open the entrance to the mansion to see Olette and Hayner standing there, hands clasped together pleadingly.

"How can you refuse now that we're here in person?" Olette asked simply. "Come _on_, the movie starts soon!"

"But…I'm making lunch…" Roxas stuttered, gesturing to the kitchen, at a loss for words.

"Forget that!" Hayner cried. "We'll buy you lunch, just get your butt to the movie theatre! Now where's Wentworth?"

Hayner looked around, his head turning at an unnatural speed, for the limo driver. Roxas cringed at the mention of it. He wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible, and something told him that pulling up in a limousine was _not _going to keep him unnoticed.

"How about we walk?" Roxas suggested. "The movie theatre's not that far from here."

"Sure, why not?" Olette agreed heartily.

Hayner, on the other hand, let out a dreary groan.

"Why? You're limo's so comfy, Roxas! And walking is so _boring_…"

"Oh, you'll hold out, Mr. Basketball Player," Olette said, rolling her eyes. "Let's just get a move on, or we'll be late!"

**xXx**

Roxas wanted to hide when they approached the movie theatre. At his premieres, there were always _tons_ of people, mostly created of teenage girls, and Roxas hated being ambushed. Everyone hated being ambushed.

But when they reached the theatre, it was totally secluded. You could almost see a tumbleweed roll by. The trio exchanged bizarre looks. The only person that was there besides the three was the girl standing at the ticket counter.

And what a ticket girl she was.

Well, Roxas considered, she wasn't really a "girl"—a woman, more like. She certainly looked over twenty, around his age. She had long, wavy, golden locks that tumbled past her shoulders, framing her delicately featured, pale face. Wide, pale blue eyes, perhaps one of her best features, looked dreamily at the equally blue sky above. A small smile played on her rosy lips. To onlookers, she appeared to be glowing. She didn't even notice Roxas's appearance.

"Why, hello there," Hayner said smoothly, the first one to say anything in the quietness of the day.

She looked up, blue eyes suddenly focused, and gave a little, amused smirk.

"Very slick," she stated sarcastically.

Her voice was soft, melodic, and chiming.

"What could I…?" she began, then she looked behind Hayner, and noticed the two people standing there.

Her eyes pierced Roxas's, boring right into him.

"You're Roxas Hernandez," she said in disbelief.

Roxas expected her to scream or squeal or something. But she didn't. She merely smiled.

"Wow," she continued, smiling. "Kairi's going to be mad when she misses this."

She cocked her head to one side, golden locks streaming around her face.

"My friend's a really big fan of yours," she explained.

"They all are," Roxas murmured under his breath venomously.

When the woman gave him a confused look, he quickly changed the topic.

"Where is everyone?" he asked. "Usually this place is packed."

"Well…" she pushed her hair back behind her ear to reveal a gold nametag that said NAMINÉ in bold, black letters. "The theatre was closed yesterday for repair. People must think it's still not fixed. I guess this is the result."

The way she wasn't reacting to Roxas like most females did made him feel far more comforted than anything. Most people would find it insulting, but Roxas thought the exact opposite.

Naminé let her gaze fall upon Olette, who was standing there looking at her watch.

"Oh my gosh!" gasped Naminé.

Roxas had not been prepared for it—he thought Naminé was different. It took both him and Olette to realize she was not gasping at Roxas, but at Olette.

"You're Olette Rodriguez, the famous photographer!" she cried. "I love your work!"

"T-Thanks…" Olette stuttered, not used to this sort of treatment. It was usually Roxas who got noticed.

"There's a little art shop near my house," Naminé explained. "I visit every so often. I love your pictures! They're so colorful!"

"I'm working on a few more," Olette remarked, suddenly cheerful at Naminé's reaction. "You can see them and tell me what you think. I love feedback!"

Naminé let out a squeal, most of its noise drowned out by the glass box she was in.

"Thanks so much! This is so cool!"

"Why don't we all go out for lunch?" Hayner suggested, looking rather annoyed that Olette was receiving more attention from Naminé than he was. "The movie's not going to be as much fun without crazed fans chasing Roxas. Olette could show you the pictures afterwards."

"I would love to! But…"

Naminé suddenly looked crestfallen.

"I can't. I've got work."

Almost as if on cue, a tall man with long, dark brown hair and bright blue eyes exited the movie theatre, his gaze on Naminé.

"You might as well leave early, Naminé," the man said in a neutral voice. "No one's coming. We're closing up."

"If you say so, Leon," Naminé said cheerfully, removing her apron and cap and leaving the glass box.

Before she left the movie theatre, she turned to look at Leon.

"I still get paid, right?" she called.

A smile twitched on Leon's lips.

"Of course."

"Thanks! You're the best!"

She beamed at the three others.

"Can you believe my luck?"

"Honestly, no," Hayner replied, only to get elbowed in the ribs.

"Right then, let's go have lunch!" Roxas said.

**xXx**

They went to a café close by. All eyes were on Roxas as they entered. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable, Roxas leaned in to whisper to Olette.

"Do we have to eat in public?" he whined.

"Yes, we have company," Olette replied, sounding very motherly. "Now shush."

Roxas sighed and regarded the group of teenage girls that were looking at him with wide, lustful eyes. He walked closer to Olette, trying to give off the façade that he was taken, but this just seemed to make the girls more determined.

"Get…me…out…of…here!" Roxas hissed to no one in particular.

Olette glared at him and put a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet. He glared back. She didn't understand what it was like to have crazy fan girls chasing her.

For Roxas's sake, Olette suggested that they sit at a secluded table in a small corner between two windows. Roxas agreed instantly.

As they sat down, Naminé's eyes seemed to follow Olette and Roxas. She was looking around her as if everything seemed surreal.

"This is amazing," she breathed. "Who would think I'd be sitting here, talking to such amazing people?"

"You know, I'm a pretty famous basketball player myself…" Hayner cut in.

"Are you?" Naminé asked, looking at him sincerely. "That's wonderful."

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm rather important…"

Hayner drawled on and on. Naminé simply smiled at him politely. Roxas gazed at her with a fond smile on his face. She was different. He didn't mind. Not in the least.

**xXx**

Sometime after all the food was eaten and Olette had shown her recent tulip pictures to Naminé, Hayner jumped up with a look of horror on his face.

"I'll be late!" he yelped, causing the whole café to look up at him. "Coach will kill me!"

Hayner bunched up his shoulders and put on a stern face, sticking up his lip in a mock impression of his coach.

"'If you're late one more time, Hayner Anderson, I'll kick your butt to the moon!'" Hayner said, wagging his finger disapprovingly, then releasing his pose. "And judging by his personality and muscles, he'll do it alright."

Olette stood up as well as he got up to leave.

"I'll accompany you," she remarked. "I have to hand my photos in to the printing company."

Hayner and Olette bid their farewells, leaving Naminé and Roxas alone at the table. There was a long moment of awkward silence until the waiter dropped off the bill. Roxas laughed.

"They left me to pay the bill," he said. "That's Hayner and Olette alright."

"Oh, I'll pay!" Naminé cried suddenly, grabbing the small, black tray that had the bill on it.

"No, I'll pay," Roxas grabbed the bill back from her.

The girl worked at a _movie_ _theatre_, for crying out loud! How much could she possibly make?

"But I feel uncomfortable letting someone else pay for me…" Naminé trailed off, looking a little huffy.

"No, please, it's fine."

Roxas gave her a reassuring little smile as he plopped down his credit card. Moments later, the waiter picked it up and returned, dropping back Roxas's credit card on the table.

"Thanks."

Roxas gave the waiter one of his million dollar smiles for no apparent reason. The waiter raised his eyebrow, obviously weirded out by Roxas's random expression, and strode away without another word.

"I guess I should go home…" Naminé stated, getting up.

"Where do you live?" Roxas asked.

"Down by Water Street," Naminé replied simply.

"That's on my way home," Roxas remarked with a smile. "Do you want some company on your walk?"

Naminé mocked him by scratching her chin warily.

"With _you_?" she said in a teasing voice. "Well, I don't know…"

She let out a giggle and smiled at Roxas.

"Sure, why not?"

**xXx**

Roxas and Naminé took slow steps to her house, Roxas looking at the ground as if it had stolen his money and Naminé staring up at the sky in disbelief. It was a bit weird for the both of them. Roxas couldn't believe he was walking home a girl who he just met that day, and Naminé couldn't believe she was walking beside a movie star.

"Why do you work there?" Roxas asked suddenly, breaking the silence between the two.

"Hmm?" muttered Naminé, her head now out of the clouds.

"At the movie theatre," Roxas explained. "Why do you work there? There are so many better jobs in the world."

Naminé stared at him, looking stricken that someone she had barely met had just asked her that sort of question. Roxas went back to looking at the ground, feeling stupid.

"It's a long story," she said finally.

"I have time," Roxas replied.

The sun was still high in the sky—of course, it _was _summer, and the days _were_ longer…

Roxas's train of thought stopped as Naminé threw him one of those you-wouldn't-understand looks. He looked at her in minor confusion, but didn't press the subject.

They reached her house. Roxas guessed this because Naminé turned onto the walkway and went up to the door. The house was really small and not decorated in the least. The paint was peeling. The windows were cracked. The only plants that grew around the overgrown lawn were weeds.

Roxas followed her up the walkway, because it seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do. Naminé opened the rusty door and moved to go in, but right before she did, she turned back around to look at him.

"I had a lot of fun today," she said with a smile.

"So did I," Roxas replied.

There was a moment of silence, and Naminé looked down at her shoes as if they'd tell her what to say next.

"Roxas?" she murmured.

"Yeah?"

She looked up at him with a smile.

"Thanks."

Roxas grinned back.

"No problem."

Another fleeting smile crossed Naminé's face before she entered the house.

"Bye."

"See you."

As the door closed with a gentle click, Roxas turned and walked down the walkway. For a reason unknown, he broke into a grin.

**RRRREEEEVIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW TIME!!**

**Thank you so much for the Gatorade! And for all the great compliments!**

**I did NOT plant a tree! Instead I had to do some corny play where I was this girl named Kayla. And to put it simply…she's an idiot. **

**Also, if you think Roxas's lines are bad, mine were so corny, it makes corn look serious. **

**Thanks so much, Random Vampire! And I'm really sorry for your grandfather. **

**I hope it's better—or at least as good—as HMTMKMKM! **

**Thanks so much, Heartbroken Sora!**

**Okay, that was reeeeeeeeaaaaaally fast, sorry about that. But I've got a language exam tomorrow and I have to sleep soon or I'll fail and then I won't end up making it to the IB program and I'll cry.**

**Read and review!**

**Remember to give your moms a kiss on Mother's Day next Sunday!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Roxas, Kairi, Tidus, etc.**

**Author's Note: My cat's attacking my arm!! Anyway, this is the fourth chapter of **_**Pour Some Sugar On Me**_**, and I'd like to thank you for your patience. I am making a new story. It will be called **_**Born to Be Wild**_** and it's a Roxiri, and…um…yeah. (Cricket sounds) **

**Warning: ATTACK OF FLYING NINJAS!! No, that's a lie. But I wish something as exciting as flying ninjas would happen.**

**Quick Author Babble: My life is ruined! I only got 79 on my language exam, and it was an unfair mark because…oh, whatever, let's just continue, shall we? **

Chapter 4: Is This a Date?

Naminé finally managed to open her eyes. She was sprawled out on her bed, which was currently a mess of sheets, in her pajamas, which, because of the hot weather, was basically a pair of stretchy shorts and a tank top. Her hair spilled out over the pillow like golden streams.

She sat up in her bed. What time was it? Her alarm wasn't beeping irritatingly as usual. She turned to look at the aggravating alarm clock only to find the bright green numbers set at 10:33.

It took a moment for the numbers to sink into her skull, for her to actually register the true time of the morning, that she was actually four hours and thirty-three—now thirty-four—minutes late for work.

Her eyes widened and she let out a horrible, echoing scream. It couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be happening!

It wasn't long before Tidus had burst into her room, blond, wavy hair rather frizzed.

Tidus and Naminé, though siblings, were very different in looks. While Naminé was as white as snow, Tidus was as tanned as if he'd been on the beach all day. Naminé was short and petite. Tidus was tall and well-built. Naminé's eyes had a glassy feel to them and were very wide. Tidus had very blue, very narrow eyes. Naminé had very light, fine hair. Tidus had very dark, thick strands. No one would guess they were related. If it weren't for their personalities, they'd think one of them was adopted. They had the same taste, liked the same sports, and, essentially, liked the same music. This made "Don't judge a book by its cover" one of Naminé's most important sayings.

"What's wrong, Naminé?" Tidus asked.

The fourteen-year-old boy sat on the edge of her bed and annoyed her even more by bouncing up and down on the mattress.

"You're up before _me_?" Naminé gasped in absolute shock. "I think I'm having a heart attack!"

Tidus laughed.

"What?" Naminé snapped.

"Your hair," Tidus snorted. "It's sticking up."

Naminé looked at herself in the mirror above her desk and let out another shriek.

"Oh my gosh! Now I have to get ready! That'll take forever! Leon's going to kill me!"

She turned on Tidus, face heated.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" she screeched.

"Because…" Tidus began.

"Oh, who has time for your ridiculous stories?" Naminé attempted to brush her hair with her fingers, but it just made it worse. "Where's the hairbrush?"

"Downstairs, in the bathroom," Tidus replied. "But Naminé…"

Naminé turned on her heels and raced out of her bedroom.

"No, don't go down…!"

But Tidus's voice faded as Naminé nearly reached the bottom of the staircase.

Standing in front of her, as if to make this nightmare even more terrifying than ever, was Roxas. He looked like he'd been waiting for a while. When Naminé let out a squeak that showed she was fully ready to die, he turned to look at her.

Heat flooded her face. She slowly looked down, feeling horror throb in her throat, and realized what she was wearing—or, more like what she was _not_ wearing. She looked back at Roxas, who didn't avert his eyes as quickly as he should've.

"_TIDUS!!" _

Her voice nearly shook the house. She ran back upstairs, feeling like she could burst into tears at any moment. Tidus was still in her room, looking like he was trying to decide whether to smile smugly or frown sympathetically.

"Why didn't you tell me Roxas was here?" she nearly bawled.

"I tried to, but you wouldn't listen!" Tidus whined.

She felt like hitting him or wringing his neck. But she didn't. There was no time. She wrenched on the nearest outfit she could find—grey pants and a black T-shirt. Grabbing a matching jacket as she raced out of her bedroom, she realized her hair still looked like static electricity was taking over. She raced past Roxas before he could say a word and ran the brush under water and started brushing her hair into straight, flowing strands.

She couldn't put on the make-up Kairi gave to her long ago, because it was far, far too late for that. When she slipped into her shoes, bouncing around trying to pull them on, she managed to face Roxas.

He looked bewildered but most of all amused. She had the urge to wring his neck even more than Tidus's, but once again held herself back.

She realized she still had her job, which she was becoming tardier and tardier for every second. But she couldn't just push past Roxas. That would be incredibly rude and not what she wanted.

She was _so_ going to get fired.

"Perv," she panted after finding her breath.

Roxas took a moment to realize what she'd called him.

"It's not my fault you were walking around like that this late!" he cried, face turning red.

"Well, you didn't have to stare!" Naminé shot back.

"I wasn't…" Roxas retorted weakly.

Heat cascaded through her body at the reality of what just happened. He'd seen her in a two sizes too small tank top and boxer shorts. She might as well have carried a sign saying "Hey! Look at me! I'm half-naked!"

"Well, anyway, _Roxas_," she said gruffly, "I can't really talk right now because I'm extremely late for my job. Now if you'll excuse me…"

She didn't want to be near him now. The discomfort was too overwhelming. As she attempted to make her way past him and to the door, hoping Leon had an extra work outfit for her to wear since she obviously couldn't bring one, she screeched to a stop as Roxas swung his arm in front of her to block her from leaving.

"Actually, _Naminé_," he remarked in the same snide voice she'd used, "I've informed Leon you're not coming to work today."

Her eyes were as wide as saucers. _What?!_

"Heh?"

"Don't worry. I've given you money for all that you would've earned today."

"B-But…how…?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you while we're walking."

Naminé threw Tidus an alarmed look, where he was standing at the top of the staircase. She'd just met this guy yesterday and suddenly he was allowed in her house? No. No, no, no, no, no…

"I'll expect you lovebirds back around here at eleven," Tidus called in a teasing, high-pitched voice, waving and wiggling his fingers in a dismissing manner.

Though Tidus was usually helpful, he was _still_ her younger brother. Naminé grit her teeth and curled up her hands into tight fists. When Tidus started making kissy faces, she started looking around the room for something to chuck at him. Finding none, she could only growl at him menacingly.

As they were walking out of the house, Tidus's voice once again sounded from behind them.

"Have fun, but not _too_ much fun!"

He laughed hysterically. Naminé picked up one of the rocks lying beside the uncared for garden and threw it at his head. Tidus jumped out of the way.

"HEY!" he cried angrily.

"Bye, Tidus!" Naminé called, shutting the door.

She turned to look at Roxas, feeling decidedly more comfortable because of the familiar scene with Tidus.

"Brothers," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Never had one," Roxas stated.

"Sisters?" questioned Naminé.

It wasn't really any of her business, but she felt Roxas owed her something for going into her house.

"Nope," he replied. "I'm an only child."

"Oh."

Naminé felt bad. Sometimes, when she was mad enough, she wished she was an only child, but now she realized she would die without Tidus. It sounded like an overreaction, but honestly it wasn't. Tidus brought colour to her life. If he hadn't been there, it would just be lonely days with her and her sick mother. Now that they'd gotten on topic, Roxas didn't seem to want to get off it.

"Tidus is nice," he said. "I like him."

"Because you're a guy," Naminé snorted.

The words had sounded a lot less harsh inside her head. Roxas looked at her.

"I mean…just because…you could relate to him more," she added quickly, trying to cover it up. "I love my brother, really."

"I know what you mean," Roxas laughed.

"Good."

After a long moment of silence, Naminé considered all that happened.

"So, why'd you come here?" she asked.

"Huh?"

Roxas's blue eyes pierced her like a knife. His best feature, Naminé decided. They were a beautiful blue, a mixture of sky and ocean. They were so beautiful they hurt.

"I mean…" Naminé realized she'd been silent for the past few seconds, just staring into his eyes like some kind of wacko, so her words came out awkward and sounding unfamiliar. "You said you'd tell me as we were walking."

"Oh, yeah." Roxas didn't look perturbed by her weird behaviour. That's probably because he didn't know what "weird" was for her. "Well, I ran into your friends."

"My friends?"

What friends? The only friends she had were Sora and Kairi, and the likeliness of Roxas running into them were almost zero.

"You know, Sora and Kairi?"

Roxas didn't even take a second to remember their names. Naminé's jaw dropped. Well, there went her whole "probability" theory.

"Colourful people," was all Roxas said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking thoughtfully at the sky.

Naminé groaned, covering her face with her hands. She could only imagine the embarrassing scene that happened.

"I was walking back from your house, and I saw two people coming in the opposite direction. Kairi nearly broke my eardrums."

Roxas cringed as if the redhead was screaming into his ear right this very moment.

"Sora was mad at me," Roxas concluded, still looking dreamily into the clouds.

"For what?" asked Naminé.

"For existing," Roxas replied with a laugh.

Another groan escaped Naminé's lips. She could see it as clear as if she'd actually been there—Kairi acting all fan girly and Sora all moody, both of them equally annoying Roxas.

"Well, anyway, he pulled Kairi back after awhile, then said, 'Don't, Kairi.' And then I knew. I remembered you telling me about Kairi, and I assumed it must've been them. So I talked to them."

"Sora must've loved that," Naminé stated sarcastically, feeling slightly more cheerful at Roxas's level-headed attitude.

"Well, he stayed silent most of the time," Roxas replied, taking her seriously, "but sometimes he'd throw in things like, 'Who cares?' and 'Why are you telling him this?' and 'He might be a stalker.'"

Sora sounded even worse than he did without coffee. Naminé bit her lip and wished her friends were the exact opposite of themselves around Roxas. She loved them, but there are some moments when you've got to act a little more mature.

"Then Kairi said that the day I met you was a very rare day," Roxas explained. "You were almost never let off work, except for some 'Demyx mishaps', whatever those are."

Naminé giggled at Kairi's clever and quick explanation of her fellow worker.

"Demyx is a clumsy, fellow employee of mine," Naminé explained. "The day before you came, he broke the soda machine and the cinema shut down because of Coke overload. That's why no one was there."

"Really?"

An amused smile passed over Roxas's face.

"Well, it's a good thing he did, right?" Roxas asked, looking at her.

Was there hopefulness in his voice? It was more than a question, she knew. It was a meaning. It was something that she never understood. Something, maybe, that Roxas wanted her to understand.

"I suppose," she replied neutrally.

She didn't want to give a straight answer. Naminé never gave straight answers to questions she didn't fully compute, especially to men who were mere acquaintances. She didn't care if he was a movie star. Lots of actors took drugs and were alcoholics these days. How was she supposed to know Roxas wasn't one of them?

In Naminé's eyes, Roxas looked a little disappointed. He was masking it with a smile, though—an unnatural smile, a smile that didn't show he was happy, but that he had nothing better to do. She felt almost bad, but then she reminded herself that Roxas had come into her house without invitation and seen her in her very exposing pyjamas. She didn't care if Tidus had let him in. Who would really trust _Tidus_, the fourteen-year-old goofball? "A real looney," her mom used to tell her when Tidus was five and kept eating the flowers in the garden. Their garden used to be well tended. Now no one had the time.

She blushed as she felt reality wash over her again. She wished she could erase the past and replace it with something far less embarrassing, like Tidus actually succeeding to stop her, or Roxas forgetting what her house looked like and walking right by it. However, this is the way it turned out. This was the way her life _always_ turned out.

"Anyway, I thought I'd give you a break," Roxas continued when she continued to be silent.

"That'd be three days in a row," Naminé replied dryly.

"So? Who's complaining?"

Roxas smirked. Naminé didn't know what to think.

"Let's get something to eat since you obviously didn't eat breakfast."

"Is that a _date_?" Naminé blurted out.

The words had fallen out of her mouth before she could stop them. She immediately regretted saying so when Roxas turned around and gave her this tremendous look of shock, as if she'd just blamed him for murdering someone.

"I…um…" he spluttered, turning beet red. "No, unless…"

"Sorry," Naminé said quickly, feeling guilty for making him answer such a question. "It's just…er…sorry."

She felt like hiding her face. After a few more moments of awkwardness, Roxas finally managed to smile again.

"Well, we'd better hurry or we'll get there at lunch time!" he quipped.

Naminé merely nodded, feeling as if she'd swallowed a porcupine. She wanted to thank him, but at the same time she felt she couldn't.

**Meh. Language was my best subject until my horrible, terrible, language teacher came along. Now I'm barely clinging on to a normal average! (Cries into pillow)**

**Hwdbz: Yes, it does suck. Thanks for your support!**

**X-The Random Vampire-X: Ha, let's rape him! (Eyes widen at Haynette remark) I may have done some Haynette before, but it's such a weird name! HaynetteHaynetteHaynette. Thanks!**

**Jcola0823: Meh. Exams. (Smiles subtly at Gatorade) Thanks, I need****ed that! **

**Lebrezie: Thanks! Happy almost-anniversary! I love making Sora and Kairi go together, because I NEVER do. Ever. Really. Thanks!**

**Shawnchi1995: Thanks! Here's your update!**

**Crystal Nami: Yes, they are a cute couple. Thanks!**

**Malcolm Yuy: I meant his lines in the movie, like, "I will give you the kiss of life." Nothing in real life…story…thing. I love Hayner in this one. I love all my characters in this one, actually, particularly grumpy Sora because I never make Sora grumpy. Thanks!**

**E Muja SN and TN: I wouldn't! I'd be gaping at Roxas in awe and be like, "You came from a video game…That's so weird…" Thanks!**

**Sora's Sacrifice: Thank you, thank you, you're too kind. Thanks! And I'm glad you kissed your mother on Mother's Day. **

**Kit-Kat-Wafer: I WILL!**

**Heartbrokensora: Thanks! No secret. Just write. Sometimes force myself. But usually not. Writing in short sentences. Sorry I'm making you wait so long…but thanks so much!**

**Remember, my friends, today is Megan Fox's birthday! Megan Fox is a main actress in **_**Transformers**_**.**

**Read and review. **

**Happy birthday, Megan!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Hayner, etc. **

**Author's Note: Okay, so…sorry this was so late. My head hurts. Badly. And I'm having friend/school troubles. And deciding whether or not to do my homework. So…enjoy this for now. **

**Warning: Slightly mature concepts. Let's see if you can find them…**

**Quick Author Babble: Cheese brain…**

Chapter 5: The Twilight Tabloid

Roxas laid sprawled out on one of the turquoise benches surrounding his red tulip garden, blinking lazily and looking up at the sky with no interest at all. He was going to fall asleep. This might've been the most boring day of all time. He wasn't working, Naminé wasn't off work, and Hayner and Olette had mysteriously disappeared.

"Yo, Roxas!"

Roxas winced as a rolled up magazine connected with his shoulder blade.

"_Meeehhh_…whaddya want?" he mumbled subconsciously.

"Get up! What are you doing, just lying around?" an irritated voice snapped at him.

Roxas sat up, rubbing his eyes. Colourful dots everywhere…And then two chocolate eyes. He leaped back in surprise as Hayner seemingly appeared from nowhere.

"Oh, Hayner," Roxas remarked sarcastically. "You're back from the Land of Disappearing Friends."

"I can't believe you're cracking jokes," Hayner said, looking sort of stunned. "Haven't you seen this week's _Twilight Tabloid_?"

"Nope."

"Haven't you even looked at the cover?"

"Hayner, why would I even bother to read the magazine that wants to make my life a living hell?"

Roxas peered at him curiously.

"We've gone over this," he said slowly. "I don't care what the _Twilight Tabloid_ says. It's basically crap in writing."

"Trust me," Hayner replied. "You'll care about this."

He unravelled the magazine he'd hit Roxas with and held it up with a flourish. Roxas's jaw dropped.

"Let me see that!"

He snatched it from Hayner in a fraction of a second, his blue orbs quickly scanning the cover.

The whole thing was covered in a blown-up picture of Roxas and Naminé, sitting on the bench in the park and talking. Naminé was laughing at something while Roxas was smiling easily. The title was enormous: _ROXAS FINDS TRUE LOVE? The secret love life of the famous celebrity you never knew about._ _Page 13. _

"Wha…wha…wha…?" Roxas couldn't get his tongue to form complete words.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Hayner said with an exasperated shake of head.

"There was a reporter following us?!" Roxas yelled. "WHAT KIND OF CRUEL PEOPLE WORK IN THIS PLACE?!"

Hayner clacked his tongue and rested his head on his hand thoughtfully. Roxas grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him as hard as he possibly could because he didn't show enough emotion for his liking.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" he screamed. "NAMINÉ'S GOING TO KILL ME WHEN SHE SEES THIS!! PEOPLE THINK WE'RE TOGETHER!! THEY'LL AMBUSH HER AT THE MOVIE THEATRE!!"

More silence greeted Roxas's ears.

"This is not good," Hayner finally said.

"Gee, you think?" Roxas remarked through gritted teeth.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his blond hair.

"What am I going to do?" he groaned. "If they're already published…"

"You'll have to talk to Naminé," Hayner stated. "If you avoid her, things will get messy. And, no offence, Roxas, but you're not very good with messy things."

"Tell her what? That her life is officially ruined? That the _Twilight Tabloid_ won't leave her alone for one second? That my fans are going to chase her around like the insane maniacs they are?"

Hayner took a moment to consider this.

"Yup, basically," he replied.

"Hayner!"

"Well, it's better that you tell her than her finding out herself, right?"

Roxas hated when Hayner was smart. This rare misfortune made him feel smaller than him, let alone shorter. (Two words: basketball player.)

"I guess…" Roxas muttered.

Hayner grinned evilly.

"Now, you go do that while I read this article." Hayner snatched the magazine away from Roxas and flipped to page 13. _"Roxas Hernandez, the big Twilight Town stud, was infamous for his bachelorism and has been believed a virgin, despite his charm and addicted lady fans. Recently, however, Roxas has been seen to be 'stalking' around the premises on Jade Avenue, a street clearly classified for those who have little money, which our spiky-haired friend clearly had enough of. Reporters found this suspicious and investigated further into the matter. They found that a girl Roxas's age lives in the house he had his eye on. Her name is Naminé Clark…" _

"Stop, stop!" Roxas yelled, covering his ears. "We know what happens next, don't we?"

He thought the grocery articles were bad. Now he realized those were practically meaningless compared to this. Hayner showed no interest in his words and continued reading.

"…_A gorgeous blonde that young men like Roxas would clearly go for." _Hayner paused to snort. _"Though she works in Sunset Cinemas, she has been reported to be 'beautiful and sexy'. She also happens to have good connections. Her closest friend happens to be Kairi Thomas, the world famous model. Could Naminé be the special girl that Roxas laid his eyes on?" _

"Seriously, stop it, Hayner!"

Roxas checked around for people who might've heard. He felt embarrassed. And who said Naminé was beautiful and sexy? She was pretty, sure, but _sexy_? Roxas couldn't help but think Naminé was the least sexy girl he had ever met.

"_Well, it turns out she is. Roxas and Naminé were caught sitting in the park giggling like a true couple. 'They certainly looked happy,' bystander Marluxia Martinez admonishes." _

Roxas decided he would track down Marluxia Martinez and shoot him dead.

"_Could these lovebirds win cutest couple of the year? Could Roxas finally revert from bachelor to husband? Could he finally lose his virginity…or has he already? Stick with us in the __**Twilight Tabloid**__!" _

"Aah!" Roxas yelled as Hayner closed the magazine. "That's the biggest load of junk I've ever seen!"

"Pretty funny, actually," Hayner admitted, laughing.

"No, it's not! It's horrible! Can't you see how horrible it is?"

He ripped the magazine into pieces and raced off down the sidewalk, without even bothering to call Wentworth.

**xXx**

"Miss Clark, are you and Roxas in a serious relationship?"

"Does he have any nicknames for you?"

"Would you say Roxas is the love of your life?"

"I…I…n-no!"

Roxas ran into the crowd of reporters that surrounded the cinema. The ticket box was barely visible between all the people. Elbowing through two people with microphones and a video camera, he reached the glass cube to reveal a very shaken Naminé.

"Back off!" he yelled at the shocked reporters. "She doesn't need this!"

"It's Roxas Hernandez!"

"What are you doing here, Mr. Hernandez, sir?"

"Have you come to visit your girlfriend?"

"Did you see the article?"

He opened the little door that entered the cube and tugged Naminé out, pulling her along as he raced from the premises and disappeared into whatever hiding place was available. Finding a lonely corner in the park, he plopped down and forced her down with him.

"Roxas, what's going on?" Naminé asked him rather urgently. "I got attacked in my house, and now at work! They keep asking me questions about you!"

"I know." Roxas held his head with his hands and tried to put it in the easiest way possible. "They think we're…well…"

He couldn't get the word out. Naminé cocked her head curiously.

"Dating."

"What?" Naminé looked horrified. "Why?"

"Because they saw us in the park the other day, and, as they always do, jumped to conclusions, or attempted to jump to conclusions. They published a whole article about it in the _Twilight Tabloid_. It's pretty bad. Trust me, I read it."

Naminé took a deep breath in and closed her eyes.

"This is bad," she said.

"Yes, it is," Roxas agreed. "And it'll only get worse. You're not the girl at the ticket counter anymore, Naminé. You're 'Roxas Hernandez's girlfriend.' You're like a celebrity. There'll be reporters everywhere, fan girls running you over just to ask you questions about me, and the only time you'll have a moment of peace is when you're in the house and have locked all the doors."

Naminé's baby blue eyes were wide.

"That's what your life is like?" she asked.

"Worse," Roxas remarked conversationally.

"Wow. That must suck."

"You don't know the half of it."

Naminé was responding better than he'd hoped. She wiped the dirt off of her shiny, grey leggings and stood up.

"Well, I guess I better get back before Leon fires me."

"Yeah. I guess…I can't walk you there."

"You're such a terrible boyfriend, Roxas," Naminé pouted teasingly. "Not even walking your girlfriend to work."

"Are you kidding? I'm protecting you from getting murdered by fans and reporters alike."

Naminé smiled and disappeared from the greenness of the park, soon to be attacked by whatever people recognized her. Roxas couldn't help but smile as well before he carefully disguised himself as he went back to his house.

**xXx**

"You _have_ to ask her out, Roxas!" a bouncy Olette chirped excitedly on her orange, cushiony seat.

"Olette, how do I even know I like her?" Roxas asked. "Can you tell when you like someone?"

"Of course! How do you think people fall in love?"

"I don't know. Internet?"

Olette frowned as Roxas chuckled awkwardly.

"Oh, c'mon, Roxas!" she cried. "You've been in a gazillion romance movies! You've got to have learned something from them!"

Roxas shook his head.

"They're lines, Olette. This is the real thing. Corny lines and reality are very different from each other."

"Not that much, actually. Do the same things as you do on the set, just turn it down a couple notches."

"This is stupid. I don't like Naminé. I don't. That article was fake."

Olette hummed a little and swung her feet back and forth.

"Maybe," she said. "But you don't you think it's a little bit of a coincidence? I mean, to me it sounds like the perfect opportunity. People think that, so why not make it true? Give it a shot! And if it turns out badly, then the magazines will think you broke up and cut it off. It's a win-win situation, Roxas! Take hold of it!"

Roxas closed his eyes and considered. He was confused. He'd always pictured his relationships as all the other celebrities'…short and pointless. He couldn't do something like that to Naminé. Naminé was real. She wasn't some singer who just wanted a fling.

"I…er…" Roxas wasn't sure what to say under Olette's expectant gaze. "I'll think about it."

**xXx**

"Olette's right."

"_What?"_

Roxas gaped at Hayner, his blue eyes wider than ever.

"You're kidding," he said. "You never agree with Olette. Ever. And now you've changed your mind? Is there no justice in this world?"

"Think about it, Roxas," Hayner explained lightly. "You see Naminé a lot. Like, as much as _us_, your only, true friends. That's saying something, isn't it? And you've never really tried to date anyone. Maybe she's"—he paused to make air quotes—"'the one.'"

"There's no such thing as"—air quotes—"'the one.' People date because it makes them feel wanted. I don't need to feel wanted. I'm plenty wanted."

"Roxas." Hayner leaned his elbows on the table, staring right at him through his brown eyes. "You like Naminé, right?"

"I…don't know," Roxas answered truthfully. "How do you tell?"

Hayner shrugged.

"Well, you feel sick, for starters."

"How sick?"

"Throwing up sick."

"Really? That much?"

"The point is, do you feel sick at all around her?"

"No…" Roxas replied slowly. "Maybe a little nauseous sometimes…"

"Does your heart beat really fast?" Hayner asked.

"Sometimes."

"Do you smile insanely while you talk to her for no reason?"

"Again, sometimes."

Hayner shrugged.

"I say go for it."

Roxas gulped. Taking a deep intake of breath, he moved on in the conversation.

"How do you…?"

Hayner looked at him, suggesting he already knew what he was asking. This only got worse and worse.

"Ask a girl on a date?" Roxas asked.

"Don't text her or e-mail her the suggestion," Hayner replied. "Just do it face-to-face, and if not that, the phone. And never…_never_…look anywhere else beside her face. Got that? Not at the ground, not at the person behind her, not at her chest, her _face_. You'll most likely get a yes."

Roxas cringed at the whole "chest" concept. He'd never really thought about that as he talked to Naminé. Now it seemed like a big thing.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Hayner snapped impatiently. "Go! GO!"

He pushed Roxas out of the booth and watched as he ambled away, sweating.

**Okay, so, I was wondering if it was okay to not respond to all your reviews. Could I just say that I'm really happy that I got all of them and that I swear I read them all through? Because I got a lot and I don't want to respond…**

**Just thanks. A lot. Really. **

**Today is the Indy 500 race, and—I've got to add this—tomorrow is the annual Cheese Rolling Race in Gloucestershire, England. Seriously. Cheese Rolling Race. **

**Okay, so, happy racing day!**

**Au revoir!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Naminé, Roxas, Tidus, etc.**

**Author's Note: This is my first update in awhile! Please excuse the hurriedness of this note, as I am making cinnamon buns. **

**Warning: It's the GREEN MONSTER OF…(mumbles)**

**Quick Author Babble: The original story of The Little Mermaid is so sad! The prince gets married to some other princess and the witch cuts off the mermaid's tongue and she dies. Aaahhh…so sad!**

Chapter 6: The First Date

Naminé calmly made lunch for her mother and Tidus, deciding not to go to work. Naminé never went to work anymore. Before it was her one goal in life—work, get paid, feed family. Now it seemed almost like a hobby. Strangely enough, Roxas refused to let her work so much and kept giving her money. It was bad practice, she knew, to take money so often from people, but he wouldn't take it back no matter how hard she tried. And it was good to hold so much money in her hands, no matter how wrong it was, no matter how many times Naminé thought of the green monster of greed eating her alive. Or was it the green monster of jealousy? She couldn't remember.

"I've got to say, Nam, it's nice having you around," a voice said from behind her.

Naminé turned from stirring the tomato sauce to observe her younger brother. She had to look _up_ at him, sadly enough.

"Well, it's nice to have you around too, Tidus," she commented, poking him in the stomach with the back of the wooden spoon. "Or should I say Sleeping Beauty?"

Tidus fake pouted.

"You're so _mean_," he whined, sticking out his lower lip. Suddenly he snapped out of his immature moment and looked around, looking a little startled. "Where's Mom?"

"Living room," Naminé sighed. "That woman refuses to go to bed."

Tidus frowned. It was very hard to believe that he had been so babyish before.

"She's getting worse, isn't she?"

"She's not getting any better, I'll tell you that much."

Naminé bit her lip and turned back towards the stove to hide the hot tears that were now dancing in her eyes. It was hard to talk about things like this, and she did _not_ want Tidus to see her cry. She wished he'd continued being goofy and immature. At least she could deal with that.

"Naminé?"

"Mhm?" Her voice was too choked to answer in actual words.

"Was Dad a nice person?"

Naminé turned around and gave Tidus a look that showed he was now going into uncharted territory. He looked determined, though. She knew he wasn't going to budge.

"Yes," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Is Roxas a nice person?" Tidus asked, leaping up onto the counter.

Red alert. Red alert. Please use all emergency exits available.

"Um…I guess…" Naminé croaked, stirring the tomato sauce harder.

"So would you say Roxas would make a good replacement dad?"

"No one could replace dad. He is, and always will be, our dad."

She threw Tidus a sharp look as she turned the oven off. The doorbell rang. Naminé shoved the pot of hot tomato sauce into Tidus's hands and jogged to get the door.

"But what if you marry Roxas or something?" Tidus called from the kitchen, and this time he sounded irritatingly playful.

"Okay, A, If I married Roxas, it would make him your brother-in-law, not a father of any kind," she snapped. "And B…_never going to happen_."

Naminé turned the doorknob but made sure to hold it. It was probably more dumb reporters trying to get info out of her of the newest celebrity pairing: "Roxiné." Please. Didn't they realize that there was no possible way celebrities like Roxas could possibly pair up with movie theatre workers? They were driving her insane. It's like they were asking her to buy a gun, but she had to deal with just slamming the door in the reporters' faces. Sigh.

But as soon as she opened the door, it was not a reporter or squealing fan girls or anything Roxas-related. Except, you know, Roxas. Naminé's eyes widened. Well, here was some perfectly-timed irony. She hoped Roxas couldn't tell she was blushing.

"Who is it?" Tidus called from the kitchen.

"No one!" Naminé cried back.

Roxas threw her a look. Oh, yeah. She realized she probably shouldn't have called Roxas "no one" when he was standing right there. Oops.

"No one…?" she heard Tidus mutter from the kitchen. "What are you _talking_ ab…? Oh, wait! It's Roxas, isn't it?"

Jeering laughter rang through the house.

"Shut up, Tidus!" Naminé shouted, turning bright pink.

Roxas laughed while Naminé slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm trying to convince my mom to lock him up in a cage when people are over."

"No problem," Roxas said. "Like you said…little brothers, right?"

Naminé nodded a little robotically.

"So…" Roxas looked down at his shoes uncomfortably. "I came over because…"

He ran a hand through his hair.

"Naminé, would you…?"

He looked her right in the eye.

"Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

_What?!_ Naminé screamed in her head. She wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not, but she felt sort of nauseous, and that was definitely a bad thing. She could already hear Tidus's mocking laughter in her ears, but she tried to tune it out to think.

"I…err…" She tried to answer, but her tongue felt like a block of wood.

"It's okay if you don't want to," Roxas added very quickly. "I…just wanted to ask…"

"No, it's very sweet of you to ask," Naminé said, awkwardly touching him on the arm. "But…"

What was she supposed to say? "I'll think about it"? Wouldn't that come across as shallow? What if she couldn't think about it? What if it was too late by the time she built up the nerve to ask about it? Wouldn't it make it awkward until then? How in the world was Naminé supposed to know what to do?

"Sure," she finally decided with a sweet smile. "What time?"

"Tomorrow at six?" asked Roxas, looking relieved.

"Okay."

She'd make time. Currently she wasn't in a big craze for money. Roxas gave a nervous arm jerk that Naminé guessed was supposed to be a wave.

"See you tomorrow then," he said, walking out of the short pathway to the house.

"Bye!" Naminé called after him, waving.

She closed the door. Had that really just happened? She couldn't possibly have dreamed it, could she? She bit her lip and raced back into the kitchen, trying to ignore the odd looks her brother was giving her.

**xXx**

"I can't believe it! That's amazing! It's a good thing you got me, Nammy! This is a big occasion!"

Kairi clapped her hands and happily swung her legs over her lime green beanbag chair. The day after Roxas had asked Naminé out, Naminé had gone over to Kairi's for assistance. Currently, though, all she was doing was squealing and being overall irritating.

"Little Nammy, all grown up!" she cooed. "Wait until I tell Sora!"

"NO!" Naminé cried, tackling Kairi off the beanbag chair. "Sora will murder me! Do you know how much he hates Roxas?"

"Oh, he'll get over it."

"Kai, Sora's not the type to get over things."

"Listen, who's dating him? You or me?"

Naminé looked at Kairi's determined expression.

"You," she mumbled.

"And who, exactly, would know him the best?"

"You."

"Right! Now get off me!"

Kairi shoved Naminé off and set her beanbag chair upright again.

"But…I don't want Sora to be mad," Naminé said, twiddling with her fingers.

"_He'll get over it._ Trust me. I'm sure Sora will like Roxas after awhile."

"I don't know…"

Naminé let her gaze fall to her white sandals. She heard Kairi sigh and envisioned her rolling her eyes.

"Fine, if it bothers you _that_ much, I guess I won't tell him. We can keep it secret. Of course, we'll have to see how well the first date goes. I mean, what if you two turn into an item? It would be really hard for Sora to not find out then, especially with all those dumb reporters floating around."

Naminé flew into Kairi's arms.

"Thank you, thank you, _thank you_!" she squealed.

"Yeah, whatever." Kairi squirmed out of Naminé's hug with an irritated expression. Kairi had a very hard time keeping things from people, especially Sora. "So what time is he picking you up?"

"Six."

"SIX?! We barely have anytime!"

Naminé checked her watch.

"Uh…Kairi, it's, like, ten."

"Exactly! Only eight hours to perfect you! Come on! To the fashion-mobile!"

She grabbed Naminé's wrist and pulled her into her room.

**xXx**

Kairi opened two gigantic doors that were in her bedroom. It turned to be her closet. There were layers upon layers of clothes. Naminé's eyes widened.

"_This_ is your closet?" she asked.

"Of course." Kairi turned to smile at Naminé. "A model's got to keep with the times! Now let's see here…Is it casual or fancy?"

"I…don't know." What that means, Naminé nearly added.

"Well, it wouldn't be too big a deal if you came in casual, fancy restaurant or not. I mean, it _is_ a first date. If you came overdressed…now _that_ would be embarrassing."

She leafed through some stuff before pulling out a baby pink, leather jacket. It was very nice looking.

"Perfect!" Kairi cried, shoving it into Naminé's arms. "You're my size, right?"

"Well…" Naminé stuttered, biting her lip.

Didn't Kairi realize she was a model and that Naminé was girl who worked at a movie theatre? Kairi was probably in size zero while Naminé was in size five or something. She didn't really want to try it on, but Kairi urged her to, so finally she slid it onto her arms.

Surprisingly, it fit like a glove, like it had been tailor-made for her. Naminé was instantly in love with it.

"I wonder if I have something to go along with that…" Kairi muttered, going back to her closet.

Moments later, she pulled out a pair of gorgeous jeans that fit Naminé as well and pink flats to go along with the jacket. When Naminé was wearing all of it, she looked like a totally new person.

"You look great!" Kairi chirped triumphantly. "Now, for make-up…"

**xXx**

"There!"

Kairi turned Naminé to look at herself in the mirror. Naminé was almost afraid of seeing what had happened to her, but she looked great. Volume mascara had been used on her eyelashes and a light shade of orange lip gloss has been applied to her lips. She was also wearing pink eye shadow. And her hair—well, it looked amazing. It had been straightened and now was shining. Her bangs were slightly parted to the side, and one, thick strand of hair was hanging over her shoulder.

"Oh, wow, Kairi," she sighed, standing up. "I can't thank you enough."

"It's five o'clock already! You better get going!" Kairi shoved Naminé out of her condo with a pleased smile.

Naminé gulped and dug her newly nail polished nails into her leather jacket. Now that it was so close, it seemed all the more real to her. Her? On a date? With _Roxas_? So many oddities in just that one statement!

"I don't think I can do this, Kairi," she whimpered.

"Please," Kairi snorted. "Of course you'll be nervous at first, but I'm sure afterwards you'll have a great time!"

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Except if it turns out you don't like him…then you'll have a horrible time wishing you'd stayed in bed," she concluded.

"Thanks," Naminé remarked sarcastically. "I can always turn to you when I need some lifting up."

"It doesn't matter! I'm sure it'll be perfect! Just go…_go_!"

Kairi gave her best friend another little shove and shut the door when Naminé turned around.

**xXx**

"Whoa!"

When Naminé stepped into her house, Tidus looked like he was about to faint. His eyes were about the size of pineapples—big pineapples, at that.

"What have you done with my sister?" he joked, nudging her. "Because whoever you are, you're doing an _awful_ job of looking like her."

"Thanks, Tidus," Naminé said dryly. "Coming from you, that must be a compliment."

"In your dreams," Tidus snorted, and he went into the kitchen before Naminé could hit him.

"Naminé, sweetie, you look beautiful!"

Naminé pivoted to look at her mother lying on the couch, looking paler and weaker than ever. She felt horrible, getting all dressed up while her mother was withering away into nothing.

"Thanks, Mom," she said.

"So, it's a date with that Roxas boy, right?" Mrs. Clark asked casually.

"A DATE WITH _WHO_?!"

Naminé cringed as Tidus screeched into the living room.

"Roxas." Mrs. Clark said the name Naminé didn't want to hear.

"You're a _liar_!" Tidus spat in Naminé's face. "You said it was never going to happen! _You_ said your chance of going out with a celebrity was zero! _You_ said…"

"I know, I know!" Naminé cried. "I didn't know, okay? Does it look like I can see the future?"

"When did this happen?!" Tidus yelled.

"Yesterday!"

"YESTERDAY?? THAT'S WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT IT!!"

"I KNOW!! IT WAS RIGHT AFTER!!"

"Could you two please quiet down a bit?" Mrs. Clark snapped.

"Sorry," Naminé and Tidus said in unison.

"Listen, Naminé is going on a date whether you like it or not," Mrs. Clark explained to Tidus then looked at Naminé. "And you should start being more honest with your brother. Okay?"

"Okay," Tidus mumbled, scuffing the rug with his shoe.

"Alright," Naminé sighed.

And just then, to Naminé's heart-stopping horror, the doorbell rang. Tidus peeked through the curtains and turned to face his older sister.

"Hey, Nam, lover boy's here," he remarked rather snidely.

"Go to your room, Tidus," Mrs. Clark demanded.

Tidus made a face but did as he was told.

"Go, Naminé." Mrs. Clark was as pushy as Kairi.

Naminé breathed in and walked to the door. She reached out for the doorknob and realized that her hand was shaking. Somehow she managed to open the door and indeed, Roxas, who looked as spiffed up as her, was standing at the doorway.

"Hi," she greeted, having this odd feeling she was about to explode.

"Hey." Roxas looked a little dazed and had a tinge of red to his cheeks. "You…ready to go?"

Naminé surprised herself with her own answer.

"Absolutely."

**Thanks for reviewing! Now let me tell you something. Stick with the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. Trust me.**

**Read and review.**

**Ciao!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Sora, etc. But I **_**do**_** own Wentworth. I think.**

**Author's Note: This chapter had a mixed point of view unintentionally because I forgot it was a Roxas chapter halfway and made it into a Naminé chapter, then, realizing this, turned it back. Try not to be too confused.**

**Warning: Limo...driver...snoot...?**

**Quick Author Babble: Oi, with the poodles already!**

Chapter 7: Love? No Way!

Roxas led Naminé down the pathway leading to her house. He felt excited. And nervous. And sort of freaked out. And maybe a bit happy. Who know someone could feel all those things at the same time?

Naminé stopped dead when they reached the sidewalk. Roxas threw her a questioning look.

"Naminé?" he said questioningly.

"We're going in a limo?" she squeaked, eyes widening as she stared at the long, shiny black car parked in front of her.

"Uh...yeah," Roxas replied. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Naminé looked a little embarrassed.

"No, of course not," she remarked. "It's just...I've never ridden in a limousine before..."

Roxas felt a little guilty that Naminé was treating his limousine like a luxury when he barely paid it any mind. He knew she wasn't exactly on good footing with money.

Since they took awhile outside, Wentworth got impatient or something because he came out and opened the car door for them.

"Ladies first," Roxas said with mock seriousness.

"Well, thank you, _Your Majesty_," Naminé giggled, getting into the car with such exuberance it was like she was riding a unicorn.

Roxas was very relieved that they were sounding normal again. For a moment he'd felt like he was walking toward a guillotine.

"Where to, sir?" Wentworth asked in a thick, British accent.

Roxas shrugged.

"A nice restaurant," he said. "Your choice."

"Jolly good, sir. I've got just the place in mind."

Naminé laughed from beside Roxas.

"Pardon, madam?" Wentworth asked.

"Sorry, it's just...this is so..." she stuttered, beaming, "fairytale-like."

When they stopped at a red light Wentworth through Roxas a look.

"She's new to this, Wentworth," Roxas explained. "Don't get so uptight."

"Very well, sir," Wentworth said with as much politeness as before, even though Roxas could clearly see him roll his eyes.

Naminé laughed a little more, keeping an eye on Wentworth.

"You'd think he'd be your butler instead..." Naminé whispered.

"I don't need butlers," Roxas replied.

"Oh, but you need drivers."

"What? I don't like driving alone. It's boring."

"But you do like staying at home alone?"

There was a loud cough of interruption from Wentworth.

"You know, madam, in my day women did not talk to their dates in such a manner, particularly about his wealth," he said loudly.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Naminé noticeably lowered her voice.

"Wentworth," Roxas said in a scolding tone.

"I'm just explaining that such rudeness would not be tolerated where I come from." Wentworth defended himself, though Roxas could see he was smiling mischievously.

"I guess I don't really know what to do on a date," Naminé admitted. "This is the first one I've been on in a long time."

"Really?" Roxas asked. "Me too."

"I didn't have the time," they said in unison.

They looked at each other, a little surprised, then burst out laughing. Wentworth sighed and rolled his eyes.

**xXx**

"Here we are," Wentworth remarked, pulling up into the parking lot.

Naminé turned to look at the big restaurant. It had a green cover over its walkway, with colorful pebbles decorating the path, and big windows that showed the fanciness of the inside.

"Oh, wow," Naminé whispered. "Bacchanalia's the fanciest restaurant in Twilight Town."

She turned to Roxas with alarm in her pale blue eyes.

"I'm underdressed!" she exclaimed, digging her nails into her jeans and looking out at the women walking past wearing fancy dresses.

"A lady always comes prepared," Roxas heard Wentworth mutter.

"Enough," he said with finality in his voice as he glared at Wentworth. "Naminé is my date and you have to treat her with respect. Got that?"

Whoa. Roxas didn't even know he had enough breath to say that. Wentworth gave a stiff nod and Roxas couldn't help but feel triumphant. He could give orders...when he was angry enough.

"Listen, Naminé," he remarked, now turning to the blonde girl, "no one will care if you're wearing a dress or not. I don't care."

"But I'm not..." Naminé bit her lip and stopped herself before she could finish the sentence, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

"Listen," Roxas said quietly, "you're more beautiful than all the people going in there."

Naminé was wide-eyed and embarrassed. Roxas had to wonder why she was embarrassed. He was the one who said it.

"If you're really _that_ worried about it, we can cut two holes in a paper bag and put it over your head," Roxas suggested jokingly, laughing as she hit him.

"You sound like my brother," she said, rolling her eyes, "and trust me, I only need one of him."

"Have a nice time, sir," Wentworth stated stiffly.

"Thanks, Wentworth."

Roxas and Naminé got out of the limousine and tried not to smile at Wentworth's new attitude. Roxas held out his arm and Naminé linked it with hers and they walked down the walkway.

"Wizard of Oz play flashback!" Naminé gasped and Roxas laughed rather loudly, causing people to look at them disapprovingly.

"Oh, I forgot laughing is a no-no," Roxas whispered and Naminé covered her mouth so she wouldn't giggle.

Roxas unlinked their arms and opened the door for her. She thanked him and blushed a little and looked at the inside of the restaurant.

"Holy!" Naminé cried, surveying the building.

A gigantic chandelier came down from the ceiling, illuminating the blanketed, red tables with a candle in the center. The walls looked like they came from an old building, pristine yet carved beautifully. Red curtains hung down covering merely half of the gargantuan windows.

Naminé blushed and attempted to cover her jeans as people in tuxes and dresses looked at her with disapproving glares.

"That's the Naminé girl in all the magazines," a gorgeously dressed woman whispered to her date as they passed the jean-clad girl. "Roxas really blew it this time."

"Hide me," Naminé whimpered, covering her face with her hands.

"Ignore them," Roxas whispered, giving the woman a rather ferocious glare before walking up to the man behind the reservation table.

The man was completely bald at the top, with a thick, greying moustache that was twitching as he wrote solemnly upon the big book before him. Naminé gaped at the gold monocle he was wearing. Naminé had almost forgotten what gold looked like, and this guy was wearing it just to decorate the thing he needed to see with.

"Table for two please," Roxas said coolly.

"I'm sorry, we're all booked until November..._next_ November, of course," the man said, not sounding apologetic by any means. "Honestly, it's purely tactless of you to not make a reservation. What do you think this is? A burger...?"

He stopped as he looked up from his book at Roxas's face. Right then, Roxas was looking rather venomous.

"Mr. Hernandez, sir!" the man tittered nervously. "I had no idea it was you! I thought it was some pauper who couldn't tell an amethyst from a ruby! We have a table waiting, of course!"

"But I thought it was purely _tactless_ of me to not make a reservation," Roxas remarked coldly.

"Oh, I meant...t-totally unneeded for you to make a reservation! It's a crime to make a star like you wait, sir!"

The man then proceeded to bow and kiss Naminé's hand.

"How lovely you are, miss," he said. "Truly charming."

It didn't matter if this guy was fighting for his job or not. Naminé was happy to hear some good words said about her.

They were led to a table near one of the big windows showing the dark blue sky and the buildings slowly coming to life, lights going on and the clock tower lighting up in a Peter Pan-ish sort of way.

Hmm. Naminé was making comparisons to Peter Pan. She was really trying to distract herself. Try as she must, she forced herself to turn and face Roxas and his blue gaze of death, which wasn't really supposed to be deathly, Naminé assumed, but it felt like it.

"Never wear a mask," Naminé joked, chortling.

"What?" Roxas asked, bewildered.

"You know, because if that guy couldn't recognize you we wouldn't...have gotten...a table..." Naminé stopped herself. "Never mind. I'm going to shut up now."

Roxas chuckled nervously. Naminé could feel her nerves frazzle. She wouldn't be able to make it through this date, her brain was telling her.

"So..." Roxas attempted to start a sentence, but trailed off.

"So..." Naminé repeated, rubbing her ankles together.

Finally, not able to take it anymore, she stood up.

"I need to go to the washroom," she announced a little too loudly, making the people beside them look at her with sheer disgust.

As if those people didn't go to the washroom either.

"Uh...okay..." Roxas said with a little salute. "Have fun."

She stuck her tongue out at him, hoping to make her feel better, but it didn't work. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

She took off in search of the washroom, taking slow steps, hoping to take as long as possible away from the table.

She found the washroom. She was sort of relieved, even though she didn't have to go. She went to the sink, almost splashed her face and realized her make-up would probably cause her face to be multi-colored. All she could do was stand in front of the sink and wish she could wipe off her make-up and wake up her senses.

_This is stupid. Roxas is my friend, and my friend only, and thinking of us being anything more is ridiculous. Dumb. Catastrophic, maybe. _

_Why did Kairi force this on me? Why is she so excited for me? Roxas was her idol to begin with. Not mine. He had nothing to do with me. __Nothing._

_And now I'm hiding this from Sora. Sora, for Pete's sake, he's a good guy, just not...you know...__my__ good guy. Why'd you all have to give me your opinions so quickly? Couldn't you at least let me think before this happened? Before I freaked out? Before I had to potentially vomit?_

_I don't like him. He just made fun of me for going to the washroom! Okay, maybe not just for that, but for announcing it, but...okay, that was totally stupid on my part, but still! I can't go through with this!_

Naminé took deep breaths, wondering, thinking, about how much of a jerk you could look by walking out on your date. High numbers. In the hundreds. Thousands, maybe. Oi.

Fine. She'd go out there, she'd sit through it, but she won't like it. She'll hate it. Hate him. No matter how beautiful he thought she was, no matter how attractive he was, no matter how nice and funny and wonderful he was, she would hate him. There.

Okay. That wasn't even convincing by Naminé's standards, but she had to go anyway. It was the principle of the thing.

**xXx**

"Red wine?"

"It's great. Alcoholic, in oddly shaped glasses, and fancy enough for people to not frown upon it."

Naminé laughed.

"I'm not planning on getting drunk tonight, Roxas," she replied.

"Darn it! I knew I asked the wrong person out," he quipped, smiling as she kicked him.

He rubbed his shin.

"Okay, ow," he remarked.

"Okay, deserved it," she responded.

"Hmm...fair enough. Now drink."

Naminé took the smallest sip and made such a face that Roxas burst out laughing. Some old woman with a beehive hairdo looked at him, tight-lipped.

"This is worse than the caviar," she said, putting down the glass and gagging.

"Ah, caviar's not that bad," Roxas commented.

"Well, you could've told me it was fish eggs _before_ I put it in my mouth."

"And miss your expression? Not a chance!"

Naminé took another small sip and spat into her napkin.

"That settles it," Roxas said. "I'm taking you to a bar."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."

Roxas smiled and took a sip of his wine. Naminé felt nauseous just watching him.

Roxas was enjoying himself while Naminé was still comforting herself by thinking that deep inside, she still hated him. Lies were so nice to have.

Roxas put his arm in the air and called over a waiter, asking for the bill. Immediately Naminé's face changed.

"This must've cost a lot," she said.

"Depends what you define as 'a lot'," Roxas replied, knowing where this was leading.

"Maybe I should—"

"No."

"But..."

"No."

"But..."

"Naminé."

Roxas threw her a withering stare before taking out his credit card, holding it and the bill above her head as Naminé reached for it, arms flapping like a bird's.

"I hate being short," she whined, sitting back down and pouting.

"And I love being tall," Roxas said as the waiter took the signed bills and the credit card away.

"Oof." Naminé blew a strand of blond hair away from her face and scowled. Roxas couldn't help but smile, amused by her silly expression.

"Okay," he said, taking the bill from the waiter. "You can be relieved now. The night's finally over."

"What's with the 'finally'?" Naminé snapped jokingly. "I'm a bundle of joy!"

"Yeah, like a barrel of monkeys." Roxas rolled his eyes and laughed as Naminé stuck her tongue out at him.

**xXx**

"We're here, madam," Wentworth said snippily as he pulled into the driveway of her house.

"Thank you." A smile was given in return from the blonde girl, which the driver rudely ignored.

"I'll walk you to the door," Roxas suggested, feeling obliged to.

They both got out and walked up the walkway as slowly as they could. Finally, when they reached her doorstep, Naminé turned to face Roxas.

"This was fun!" she chirped.

"Like a barrel of monkeys," Roxas added.

"Stop saying that."

"Sorry."

Naminé stood there for a second, tapping her fingers together before smiling.

"Goodnight, Roxas," she said.

She put her hand on the doorknob and was about to go in when Roxas stopped her.

"Wait."

Naminé turned back to look at him. Roxas kissed her on the cheek before she could react.

"'Night, Naminé."

He got a nervous chuckle in return. He walked back down the walkway, hearing the door quietly shut behind him. He got into the limo only to be attacked by Wentworth.

"Oh, a kiss on the cheek," he muttered snootily. "How romantic."

Roxas smiled despite the nastiness and kept his gaze on the house for as long as he could before it disappeared behind him.

**Okay. So. I didn't update any of my stories for the longest time ever because I was vacationing in Greece for, like, ten days. When I got back, I was too lazy to write. Because of this, I felt very bad so I decided I must finish this chapter which I started...three weeks ago. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway. **

**Read and review! **_**PLEASE??**_

**Ciao!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Naminé, Roxas, Kairi, etc. **

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner. I was very mean to do so. I've really been pushing myself this past week, so please accept this update with courtesy. I'm really tired of writing. **

**Warning: Most of this is made of boredom. Please excuse all uninteresting parts. **

**Quick Author Babble: My head...is spinning...like a merry-go-round...**

Chapter 8: Not a Dream

Naminé stood on a ladder, sticking up letters to form the new movie titles coming out that day. She didn't particularly like this job, as she always thought she would fall to her death doing it, but it beat sitting in the boiling ticket booth and cleaning up dropped popcorn, spilt soda, and whatever else sticky that covered the movie theater floor. Demyx was doing that. Although, usually when Demyx attempts to clean something up, it just gets messier. Leon, however, knew better than to put him on a ladder.

"Hey, Nammy!" a voice cried from below, startling Naminé and nearly making her fall off.

Naminé grabbed the border of the frame of the sign to hold steady and looked below to see an eager redhead who was willing to kill her for some news.

"Jeez, Kairi!" Naminé cried. "Do you _want_ me to fall to my death?"

"No, no, of course not!" Kairi replied. "I can't get information out of you when you're dead!"

Naminé rolled her eyes and sat down temporarily on the top step of the ladder.

"So?" Kairi was actually shivering in excitement.

"So...?" Naminé teased, wondering if Kairi would actually explode without her daily dose of gossip.

"SO HOW DID IT GO?!" Kairi shrieked, clasping her hands together and jumping up and down.

"How did _what_ go?"

"Stop teasing, Nam, I'm dying here!"

"Oh...you mean with _Roxas_..." Naminé feigned realization.

Kairi crossed her arms and pouted.

"Don't play dumb," she snapped crossly. "You and I both know I'm talking about your date yesterday."

Naminé twiddled her fingers, thinking. How _had _it gone yesterday? Well, as far as she knew, she had one tease from her brother, two limousine rides, one fancy dinner, two major freak outs, two kicks for Roxas, and, oh yeah—one kiss.

"Hmm...well...I don't know," Naminé answered honestly.

"Why?" Kairi asked, sounding a bit accusing. "What happened?"

"Well, Tidus didn't like it."

"He's you're little brother. It's totally natural."

"He took me in a limousine."

"Ooh...ritzy. Wait, you do mean Roxas, right?"

"Yes, I mean Roxas. What do you think, I took a ride with some homeless guy?"

"No, I mean...I was just making sure you weren't talking about Tidus."

Naminé rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, right," she said sarcastically. "Tidus saved up his pennies and now he can afford a limo."

"_Just_ checking," Kairi remarked cautiously. "You can never be too sure."

Naminé sighed and scratched her chin. Reliving it now made it seem all the more embarrassing.

"We went to Bacchanalia," Naminé explained. "Thanks for making me wear jeans, by the way..."

"EEKKK!!" Kairi shrieked. Naminé grabbed onto the sign to keep from falling off.

"What was that?!" she shouted, her knuckles turning white.

"Bacchanalia! In jeans! Oh, the humanity!"

Kairi covered her face with her hands and shook her head violently.

"I can't believe it! Why didn't I consider that as an option? Of course Roxas would take you some place fancy, he's a freaking millionaire! I'm not worthy enough to be your best friend..."

"Oy..." Naminé sighed, rolling her eyes. Kairi had always been a tad more girly than her, but this was ridiculous. "It wasn't _that_ bad. I mean, I felt exactly like you at first, but Roxas calmed me down. Five minutes later, I freaked out and ran into the washroom where I nearly threw up."

Naminé waited for Kairi's expression of horror. It didn't come. Kairi looked at her as if asking her to continue.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

Silence.

"I mean, I nearly threw up!" Naminé threw out her arms in exasperation. "You made this big, long speech about me wearing jeans, and then I freak out and...nothing?"

Kairi waved her hand in the air impatiently.

"Nammy, I don't think you know how common it is for girls to be like that when they first start going out with a guy," she explained casually. "It's only natural that yours was a little higher. I mean, you _are_ going out with a celebrity after all."

"_Went_ out," Naminé corrected her.

"Whatever. It's not a big deal. So, continue."

Naminé threw her a confused look.

"That was it," she said.

"What do you mean, _that was it_?" Kairi cried. "What happened after dinner? Didn't he take you home?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And?"

"And...?"

"DIDN'T HE KISS YOU??" Kairi bellowed, waving her arms around like a maniac.

"Oh, right. Yeah. On the cheek." Naminé pointed at her right cheek as a demonstration.

Kairi paled and turned a little green. She looked like she was about to faint.

"Kai?" Naminé leaned over to examine her friend. "You okay?"

"That...was it?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Yeah..."

"Oh, God! And this whole time I was sitting at home wondering about how it was going and thinking how lucky you were to be kissing Roxas! Do you know how many daydreams I have had about that for the past year?"

"That's sick!" Naminé exclaimed, making a face.

"But unavoidable! He's _so_ hot!"

"I ban you from saying that word," Naminé commanded, pointing an accusing finger at Kairi.

Kairi sighed and crossed her arms, a pouty look on her face. She blew a strand of crimson hair out of her face and turned back to look at Naminé.

"Oh, well," she sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Excluding the disastrous ending, overall how'd you think it went?"

"I don't know," Naminé replied, shrugging. "You have to look at it from both sides..."

"Well, I think it went pretty well," Kairi stated.

"Why do you say that?" Naminé cocked her head to one side to look at her friend in confusion.

"I'm not sure...maybe it's because Roxas is standing on the sidewalk watching you with a weird smile on his face," Kairi smirked, pointing.

Naminé's gaze traveled in the direction where the redhead was pointing. At the sight of the blond boy her face flushed and she nearly fell off the ladder—that would make for the third time that day. Roxas also quickly looked away as if he'd just been examining the movie titles.

"What's he doing here?" Naminé hissed.

"I don't know," Kairi giggled, putting a hand over her mouth to keep from smiling too widely. "Maybe you should go find out."

"I've got work to do," Naminé remarked dazedly, taking a sticky "S" from the box of letters and placing it on the glowing, white board.

"Oh, please," Kairi muttered. "Just go amuse the poor boy for a couple of minutes. I'll cover for you if Leon comes out."

Naminé threw a look at her.

"Go on! Shoo, shoo!" Kairi snapped, making wild hand gestures.

Naminé rolled her eyes and climbed down the ladder. At about the third step her shoelace got caught in a screw and she toppled over. Too startled to scream, Naminé was surprised when she didn't land on the pavement and instead in someone's arms. She prayed it was Kairi.

She looked up into two, very blue eyes. There was only one person she knew with eyes like that.

"Falling off ladders become your thing now?" An amused voice laughed.

"H-Hi, Roxas."

Naminé faked a smile and screamed in her head. How cliché, let alone predictable. Didn't these sorts of things always happen to the heroine in romantic comedies? Naminé didn't even like romantic comedies all that much...

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks!" Naminé forced herself to stand up and smiled at him gratefully. She heard Kairi snort from behind her so she turned to glare.

"Anyway, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute," Roxas said shyly, scratching the back of her head.

"Well..." Naminé looked up at the unfinished titles, biting her lip desperately.

On one hand, she had an unfinished billboard to finish so she could get paid and support her family, let alone make a very happy Leon. And on the other hand, she had a very good-looking, charming, gentle movie actor, who helped her support her family, which would make a very happy her. Hmm...hard decision...

"Oh, yes, take her!" Kairi cried, pushing Naminé forward so she nearly collided with Roxas. "Please! Kidnap her if you want! I won't tell!"

"What a good friend," Naminé said sarcastically, looking at Kairi with lowered eyelids.

"Uh...is it really okay?" Roxas whispered.

"I guess so," Naminé sighed, shrugging. "Kairi would kill me if I didn't go."

Which probably wasn't the nicest thing to say, so she felt very guilty afterwards. She should've just finished with a simple "sure" instead of making it seem like she was being forced to go.

Roxas didn't appear to pay any mind to it, so they walked away from the cinema in silence. Naminé couldn't remember such an awkward situation. Her face was bright pink and she was dawdling anxiously.

"Want to go to the waterfalls?" he suggested, breaking the silence.

"Oh...um...sure." She was now counting her fingers to keep calm. She wasn't sure if that worked, but oh well...

**xXx**

"Here we are."

A rush of water greeted Naminé's ears. The blonde saw all the couples passing by, holding hands and laughing with not a care in the world. How could people be like that? Didn't they realize that there was more to the world than skipping along hand-in-hand, giggling like school kids?

It had never irritated Naminé this much until she actually started walking around with a boy. They were not holding hands. Or laughing, for that matter. In fact, they were both being so quiet it was eerie.

_Why did you want to talk to me? _Naminé's gaze was asking Roxas. _Why did you take me here? Why aren't you saying anything? _

Unfortunately for her, Roxas was not looking in her direction. He was looking straight ahead, staring piercingly at everyone passing. Some girls squealed and pointed when they saw him. Others passed out.

"Is _that_ Naminé?" someone whispered, pointing right at the blonde girl.

"Wow. She looked way prettier in the magazine," her friend murmured back.

"Humph!" Naminé stuck her tongue out at the girls and then pointed her nose into the air. She was _not_ going to let herself be insulted by a couple of gossipers.

Beside her, she heard Roxas let out an amused chuckle. Naminé glared at him. Like _he'd_ been any help!

"What are you laughing at?!" she snapped.

"Is _that_ how you're going to deal with people like them?" he asked, laughing still. "Sticking your nose up in the air like a weirdo?"

"Well, excuse me!" Naminé shouted, relaxing into this new atmosphere. "How do you propose I deal with them then?"

"Watch and learn." Roxas wheeled around and put on his Prince Charming smile, approaching the two girls who froze right in a half-step.

"Is he coming towards us?" one of them whispered.

"Oh my God!" the other one squealed.

"Excuse me, ladies," Roxas said, stopping in front of them and putting his hands in his pockets, "I'm afraid I heard all you had to say about Naminé over there."

"Ah..." the first one gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

"Maybe you're right," he said, nearing the one with her hand over her mouth. "It's true that she isn't half as impressive as you..."

The girl fainted. Her friend caught her and looked at her in shock.

"Selphie? Selphie? Are you all right? Selphie!"

"When she wakes up, tell your friend to stop gossiping so loudly," Roxas said, stern face back on. "If you have anything to say about Naminé, you talk to me. Got that?"

The girl nodded, in an absolute panic, as Roxas strolled back calmly towards the blonde girl who looked absolutely stunned.

"Oh...um...er..." Naminé stuttered, blushing brightly. "Thanks."

"I guess you can't really do that, considering you're a girl," Roxas said, blowing a strand of golden hair from his face, "so just walk with me more often, 'kay?"

"Uh...sure..." Naminé said, nodding her hand. "S-Sounds like a plan."

They walked towards the bench near the bars blocking off from the waterfall, Naminé staggering a little.

"_If you have anything to say about Naminé, you talk to me. Got that?"_

Naminé chuckled nervously. He had just been showing her how to stick up for herself. None of those words actually _meant_ anything. Right?

Naminé dug her nails into her work pants as she sat down. How was she supposed to know what Roxas was thinking? This would be bugging her nonstop now.

"Date," Roxas muttered.

"What?" Naminé's head snapped up.

"I said, what did you think of the date yesterday?" Roxas asked.

Naminé bit her lip and closed her eyes. Her face flushed and her head started to hurt.

"I..." she stuttered, "I don't know. I don't know how dates work, really. What about you?"

Roxas's face became thoughtful.

"Well, I didn't really have to think much..." he admitted.

Naminé shut her eyes tight, waiting for the blow.

"Naminé..."

Roxas's hand was now squeezing hers.

"I really like you."

Heh? Naminé opened one eye to stare at the blond boy. It had to be a joke. But he looked dead serious, and she could see a trace of worry over his features.

"Oh...um..." How was she supposed to respond to that? She looked down at their entwined fingers. They were holding hands just like the people Naminé was complaining about before, and she didn't mind it. And, when she looked at Roxas's gorgeous face, she had to smile.

"I really like you too," she replied, the words slipping off her tongue like a water slide.

Roxas breathed out in relief and smiled gratefully at her.

_I'm dreaming_, Naminé found herself thinking, heart hammering hard in her chest. _I must be._

**Thank you for reading the eighth chapter of **_**Pour Some Sugar On Me**_**! Currently, believe it or not, it is the most popular story of all my running stories. I wonder if I'll ever beat **_**HMTMKMKM**_...

**Probably not.**

**Goodbye. FOR GOOD. (Dun nun nun nah...)**

**Read and review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Aerith, etc.**

**Author's Note: Well, you see…I was bored. And so, while I was wasting away my last week of summer vacation, I decided to watch Gilmore Girls. And while I was watching Gilmore Girls, this great character called Logan Huntzberger was introduced, and I liked him instantly. That's why I recreated him in Roxas a little bit towards the middle of the chapter. **

**Warning: I don't like warnings anymore.**

**Quick Author Babble: I want to watch Snow White very badly.**

Chapter 9: The Bet

Roxas sipped his coffee tentatively while staring at the script he had to learn. Oh, jeez. What was _this_ line now?

"'The stars above cannot compare to your beauty,'" Roxas read, making a face. "Pfft!"

The writer liked making him feel like an idiot. That was it. He glared at the name written on the script. "Aerith Gainsborough", huh? No wonder the lines were so corny. It was written by a _girl_!

Roxas frowned and threw the script down on the table. This gave a whole new meaning to "don't send a woman to do a man's job." He didn't want to sound chauvinistic, but _come on_! He stuck out his lip and pouted childishly.

The doorbell rang enthusiastically throughout the mansion. He sighed and hid the script in the drawer in case it was Hayner. Then, slowly trudging to the door, he let his imagination take care of Aerith Gainsborough, the corniest script writer on the planet.

He opened the door with half-closed eyes, hoping it wasn't Hayner. He just wasn't in the mood to hear about his latest toothpaste commercial.

"Hi, Roxas!" a female voice chirped happily.

Roxas's eyes snapped wide open and scanned over the person in front of him. It was Naminé, long, golden locks lolling down her shoulders, donning a purple blouse and a long, flowing skirt. Roxas's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh…uh…hi, Naminé." The sudden appearance of the blonde girl made Roxas remember…He had a girlfriend. He, too busy for dating Roxas, had a _girlfriend_, and there she was, standing right in front of him.

"Are you busy?" Naminé winced, a little color appearing on her cheeks. "I told Kairi that but she wouldn't listen…"

"No, really, I'm not," Roxas said very quickly, "unless you count complaining about your script busy. Come in."

The very weird thing was that he felt positively giddy. "Giddy" was about the lamest word you could use for a grown man's emotions—unfortunately, it was true.

Naminé looked around, mystified.

"It's even bigger on the inside!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.

"It's not much," Roxas said humbly.

"Being modest, are you?" Naminé asked him with a smile. "It's like a palace, Roxas. No, a castle. No, a…"

"That's enough," Roxas laughed. "I think I'm good with 'house.' Or 'mansion', at least."

Naminé eyed the monstrous chandelier hanging from the ceiling at the top of the stairs and laughed.

"It must be creepy at night," she stated.

"You have no idea," Roxas agreed.

After a moment's comfortable silence, Roxas tilted his head to look at her.

"How did you find out where I live?" he asked.

"Kairi," Naminé replied back easily.

"Kairi?"

"Yes. You're her idol. She stalks you online."

"That's…comforting."

Roxas was used to fan girls. Naminé, however, was so different. She had a rather cool demeanor, actually—kind of like a breath of fresh air compared to being mobbed all the time.

"Want something to drink?" Roxas asked after the somewhat awkward silence considering that the best friend of his girlfriend (there was that word again) was stalking him. Creepy.

"If you don't mind," Naminé said politely.

It didn't matter how much he liked her. It always took him a while to get used to the different atmosphere when she was around. That atmosphere that made him want to skip through the daisies, yet also run away and cower underneath his bed.

They entered the kitchen. Roxas walked up to the fridge and offered her a soda. Naminé sipped it with such care that Roxas had to laugh.

"What are you doing?" Roxas asked, causing Naminé to look up.

"I'm worried that if I spill anything, it's going to ruin this entire room," Naminé replied. "It's so impressive!"

"It's the kitchen," Roxas remarked dully, "and if you spill it's not going to ruin anything."

Naminé was looking at her soda gingerly and Roxas could imagine her thinking of her spilling and it burning like acid through the floor, like in one of those Bugs Bunny cartoons. Roxas leaned on the counter with a smile.

"Calm down. Just treat it like it's your kitchen."

"That is very hard to do. I wish I could become famous. It's like endless bliss."

"Ah…not really."

"Really? Name one thing."

Roxas strode up to the drawer he had hid the script in and opened it, chucking the leaves of paper at the blonde girl.

"This, for example," he remarked as Naminé's eyes followed along the words.

As she continued, the laughter became more apparent. Her eyes started twinkling with mirth and she put a hand over her mouth.

"'Your hair is like spun gold, glowing in the moonlight,'" she quoted, laughter escaping as she continued reading the words. "'Your eyes, vivid as the deepest pools in the ocean. How could such beauty exist in this world?' This is the corniest thing I have ever read!"

"When you read it like that it sounds even worse," Roxas added.

Naminé looked at him threateningly.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Listen." Roxas took the script from her, memorized a line, then put on his acting voice. "'Darling, the days we share pass shorter than seconds. I need more of you than ever. When I see you, it's like a light goes on in my head. There she is. Mine. And I want her for as long as I live. Please, with all my heart and soul, won't you marry me?'"

He breathed out and smiled. Naminé was very pink in the face. She turned so he couldn't see her reaction, her hand over her mouth until finally she released a breath.

"You're very good," she said.

"Thanks." Roxas threw her a brilliant smile even though she couldn't see it. He poked her in the back teasingly. "You've fallen for my acting skills, haven't you?"

Naminé pouted and turned to him and crossed her arms.

"I have not fallen for your acting skills," she snapped. "As a matter of fact, I'm starting to question if I've fallen for you at all."

Roxas put a hand over his heart and feigned pain.

"Ouch," he said. "That was a low blow, even for you. But you've got to admit, I'm pretty irresistible, aren't I?"

He put an arm around the blonde girl.

"Humph," she muttered.

"You females are all the same. A few corny words and you're all blubbering. For this reason romance movies are called 'chick flicks.' I detest them. They're stupid, really."

"You sure seem to act in a lot of them if you hate them so much," Naminé retorted.

"Well, they _do_ make a pretty penny," Roxas admitted. "No woman can resist the likes of Roxas Hernandez."

"I'm sure I could a name a few," Naminé snapped.

"Ah hah! Try, then! Name some!"

Naminé leaned against the counter and thoughtfully looked at the floor.

"Well?" he said.

"Umm…" She looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, face it. It's hopeless. I'm, like I said before, simply irresistible."

"Really?" Naminé turned to face him with a sly smile on her face and tapped her soda can. "Fine. Let's have a bet then."

"A bet, my lady?" Roxas quipped, leaning his elbows on the counter to look her right in the eye. "And what exactly could it be?"

"You and me stay apart from each other," Naminé explained. "Whoever's first to break and talks to the other loses. That proves who exactly the irresistible one is."

"Aw…and we just started dating," Roxas sighed with a teasing smile. "Trying to lose me to somebody else, are you, Nam?"

"Who knows?" Naminé shrugged. "I've had a lot of time on my hands lately. I could probably get a good date or two."

The thought made Roxas bubble, but he didn't dwell on it.

"Hmm…we'll see."

"I guess I'd better leave," Naminé said. "As soon as I'm out of the house the bet officially begins."

"Quick kiss then," Roxas pleaded.

"No!" Naminé snapped. "Are you perverted or something? We haven't even kissed officially yet. I am not kissing you. I am ignoring you."

Naminé turned and quickly marched towards the door.

"Naminé! Wait! This is too soon!" Roxas raced after her, leaping over furniture and stumbling into the main foyer. "You're right! We haven't even kissed yet, and we're doing this stupid thing…"

"Oh, it's very obvious who's going to win this bet," Naminé remarked, flashing him a smile and grabbing hold of the handle.

"No!" Roxas cried. "Stop! Reconsider! Call off the bet! I thought we were just kidding around!"

Naminé smirked, obviously enjoying Roxas's panic attack.

"Okay." He breathed out slowly and looked at her carefully. "You weren't serious about dating other guys, right?"

"We'll see." Naminé smiled deviously at him before exiting the house.

"Ah…Naminé…" He sighed and kicked the door before returning to the kitchen to practice his script.

**xXx**

Roxas stood in front of the movie theatre with hopelessness in his heart. It had been forever since he had talked to Naminé—actually, three days, which should be considered as forever. He was very bored and lonely. It didn't help that Olette was off somewhere on a photography tour and Hayner happened to be at some basketball tournament in Traverse Town. How unfair. Everybody had everything to do with their lives but him.

The good thing was that Naminé hadn't been dating any guys the whole time Roxas was "secretly" stalking her, another thing he did to pass the time and keep from going completely mental. So it would be okay.

Many a time Roxas considered giving up the bet. What the heck was the point, anyway? But there was something unavoidable and untouchable in Roxas—pride and maybe the slightest bit of dignity, and he wasn't giving that up for the world. So he wasn't giving up. He would be mocked for days on end. He wouldn't be able to take that.

And then, as he half-watched the cinema, a young, good-looking man came up to the ticket counter where Naminé was working and provoked a conversation. Naminé started giggling. Roxas's face hardened. Why was she giggling? What could this stranger say that was so hilarious?

Okay. He whacked himself in the head and tried to think of something else to do. He couldn't stand there and be all protective until he went completely insane and got carried away by men in white coats. He needed a distraction. A distraction. A distraction…

His phone started to ring. Roxas was relieved as he picked up the cell phone hiding in his pocket, the familiar ring tone sailing into his ears. He clicked it open and hoped to have some kind of conversation.

"Hello?" he said.

"Roxas!" a charming, female voice cried. "Darling! Is that you?"

"Tifa?" Roxas allowed a relaxed smile to settle across his features as he was doused in the mannerisms of his profession. "I haven't heard from you in awhile."

Tifa Lockhart was one of Roxas's oldest companions in the acting business. Shortly after Pence had opened the doors to his acting career, he met Tifa who was waiting for an audition for an upcoming movie. She was only one year older than him, with long, dark brown hair and reddish brown eyes that set men on fire.

Tifa, it turned out, had become a very famous actress. She had stunning looks, one to melt an average man to a shameful puddle of liquid on the floor, and her acting was impeccable. Her fake tears were so realistic. It was amazing. Roxas knew because he'd acted with her in a movie before. Coincidentally, they were both the main characters, he being the handsome hero and she being the helpless heroine. How obvious movies have become.

"Well, I'm not the only one to blame," Tifa retorted, and just from her voice Roxas could tell she was smiling saucily. "You haven't exactly been too desperate yourself."

"No," Roxas chuckled. "But you and I are both very busy people, Tifa."

"Oh, please. You are the laziest creature on the planet, Roxas. I have no idea how you've managed to make so much money off sheer incompetence."

"Mm…good looks. Nice voice. Swooning fan girls. You know…the usual."

Tifa groaned.

"You are exactly the same," she stated. "Always egocentric and self complimentary. Besides, that's not what I met by 'incompetence.'"

"What did you mean, then?" Roxas asked.

"Oh, you know what I mean! You can't have been working too hard lately. After all, you _are_ dating that Naminé girl. It's in all the magazines."

Roxas laughed. To think he had been exited to receive this phone call…

"Yeah, she's…" He allowed a little, happy sigh to escape his lips. "She's really great."

"I'm sure," Tifa responded, sounding almost bored. "She looks adorable in all the pictures."

"And more so in real life. Maybe you can meet her someday."

"Hopefully. You see, the reason I called you, Roxas, is because I have an offer for you. We're filming this movie right here in Twilight Town and we want you to be the protagonist."

Roxas sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I've kind of got my hands full right now…" he muttered.

"We're offering to pay you double the amount the other movie was planning for salary," Tifa offered. "Not only that, but it's less film time and our script writer is probably way better than the other's, considering this one isn't even close to being as corny as the other movies you have acted in."

"Trust me, this script isn't hard to beat," Roxas quipped, tapping his fingers on a telephone pole thoughtfully. "Well…okay, why not?"

"Great! We're meeting next week on Wednesday at two. Thank you so much, Roxas!"

"No problem. Bye, Tifa."

"Ciao."

As Roxas pressed the END button, his head felt a little lighter. Looks like he did have something to distract him after all.

**Dearest readers, it pains me to say that **_**What If**_** is nearly over, and since this is happening, I am to recreate a new story in approximately two weeks, and if I'm busy with school, perhaps a little more than that. It'll be a Namiku. I have never made a Namiku before, so it'll be exciting and not popular in the least. I will try my best. Sorry, Roxas. **

**Read and review!**

**Livin' the Vida Loca!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Leon, etc.**

**Author's Note: Umm...I can't write for five days because I'm going camping, so I thought I'd give one last update before my departure. So...yeah. **

**Warning: ...I'm tired.**

**Quick Author Babble: Still tired.**

Chapter 10: The Letter T

Naminé let out a tremendous yawn as she sat in the ticket booth. She'd hoped that she'd see Kairi, Sora, Roxas, or at least _somebody_ today, but she had asked for too much. Almost no one had come to the movie theater, not even customers. It was like the day was groggy for everyone.

Sure, after a dare Naminé had stupidly made out of pride, she hadn't seen Roxas for a week. She thought he would break in five minutes, but he proved her wrong. Basically all it came down to was that they were both very swell-headed people with confidence issues.

Naminé examined her fingernails out of boredom. Hmm...she had a hangnail.

"Naminé!"

Naminé whipped around so fast that her neck hurt. Leon came stomping towards the little glass box. In a panic, she wondered if he had caught her loafing.

"I was working, Leon, really!" she tittered into the microphone that let him hear her voice. "It's just that there aren't any people around..."

"Don't make excuses, Clark," Leon said in his military voice. "I know there's no one coming. I was just going to close up early, so here's your paycheck. We won't require your services for the rest of the day."

"Great!" Naminé chirped with false happiness, exiting the small booth and taking the small piece of paper. "Thanks, Leon!"

He gave her a curt nod before going back inside the cinema. Leon seemed to be in a bad mood these days. Naminé figured everyone was.

She left the movie theater area and started walking in a random direction. Where should she go? What should she do with her extra time? Call up Kairi and go to the mall? Go see Olette's newest photos? Maybe even visit Hayner for a little comic relief?

It made Naminé sad that Roxas wasn't an option anymore. She was being a wuss and it made her frustrated. It had only been a week and she was already cracking. She didn't want to miss him. She wanted to be independent and headstrong, like she'd always been.

So. She reverted to stomping instead of walking. She was going to explore the world, become a millionaire and a recognized idol all throughout the universe. She was going to become glamorous and dazzling and even the Twilight Tabloid wouldn't be able to make bad comments about her. She would be almost unfairly happy.

She stopped her tirade and let out a big sigh. Never mind. She was too depressed for that. She wanted to go home and sip on hot cocoa as she read a romance paperback novel from the convenience store, wishing she too had the love life like the heroine in the story.

Naminé turned in the direction of her house when she suddenly froze, eyes wide. Could it be? She blinked a thousand times but the scene in front of her wouldn't disappear.

It was Roxas. The genuine, real thing, with his inhumanly perfect smile and blond hair that looked so silky you just wanted to run your hand through it. His eyes were as blue as she remembered, with one look it was like you had just seen the ocean.

Even the sight of him was refreshing. Even so, Naminé couldn't help but look at him longingly. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to run up to him and hug him and have him smile brilliantly at her. But her body resisted, remembering the dare, her dignity, everything.

_Look at me._

She pleaded him with her eyes. She hoped he could feel her stare. She clutched her check in a fist, feeling it scratch against her skin.

_Look at me. _

Maybe, if he just saw her, he would talk to her and relinquish his pride, and the whole nightmare would be over. She hoped with all her might that it would happen.

_Look at me._

She watched painstakingly as he looked in the other direction. What was he looking at? Why wasn't he looking her way?

_Look at me._

And suddenly, she saw her.

Tall, slender, with silky, dark brown hair and enticing, chocolate eyes. She was tanned and perfectly shaped, let alone modeling the most fashionable clothes you could find. She was so beautiful it hurt.

"Hi, Roxas," she greeted in a melodic voice.

She knew him. Of course she knew him. All females knew Roxas. But she wasn't squealing. She was talking to him normally. Could that mean she knew him personally?

"Hey..." Roxas began the hello, but Naminé couldn't catch the end.

Her name began with a T, Naminé was pretty sure. T something. Tara? Tina? Tiffany?

"How have you been, Roxy?" the mysterious girl asked.

Naminé bubbled. _Roxy? _What kind of a nickname was that?!

"Oh, you know, the usual," Roxas replied with a shrug.

"Laying around doing nothing then," No Name remarked with a giggle, whacking his arm playfully, giving Naminé a good glimpse of her shiny, manicured nails.

"Hey, come on now. Enough of the lazy jokes." Roxas laughed. "You fall asleep once off the set and it keeps coming back."

No Name sighed and put her hand to her forehead. Naminé felt herself getting angry with everything she did.

No Name looked up and all of a sudden her eyes landed on the blonde girl. Her eyes narrowed with realization.

"Hey, Roxas, isn't that your girlfriend?" she asked, pointing.

"Huh?" Roxas turned three hundred sixty degrees and his gaze landed on Naminé.

Naminé felt like screaming. She didn't want to be seen right now. Besides, that dumb bet was still going on.

"Oh, hey, Nam!" Roxas raised a hand in greeting.

_What?_

The innocence in his voice told her he was not attempting to break the bet. He was just saying hi.

But, if he was just saying hi, didn't that mean he'd forgotten all about the bet? That he'd forgotten all about _her_?

It was that T girl! Naminé knew it was her and her feminine wiles and endless beauty. Who cared if she was being sensitive and unreasonable? She had facts right in front of her and she had no choice but to believe them.

So she did whatever reasonable person would've done when Roxas held her fast with his gaze. She ran.

**xXx**

"It's not fair, Kai."

"It isn't fair."

"He can't just go off and find another girlfriend because of a bet!"

"No, definitely not."

"And he can't forget me!"

"No, I agree absolutely."

Naminé sat in her bedroom with a box of tissues, mug of cocoa, and paperback romance novel by her side. She talked to Kairi on the phone, feeling it was her right.

She took a sip of her cocoa and sighed. It had been too long a day. Far too long. She wanted to disappear into the covers and never come out.

"Are you done your rant now?" Kairi asked softly when Naminé didn't speak for a few moments.

"Wait," Naminé said. "And how could he forget the bet?! He was so desperate about it before! Okay, now I'm done."

"Alright then. So I just want to say that you may be taking this to too high a level."

"Really?" The blonde raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. How do you know Roxas thinks of that girl in that way?"

"It was obvious." Naminé's eyebrows knit together.

"Was it?"

"Yeah! She was all over him! And he laughed!"

"Well, most females would be all over Roxas. And him laughing means nothing. Roxas is an easily humored guy. He's allowed to laugh once in a while without it being a big deal, right?"

Naminé took another sip of her cocoa.

"Perhaps."

"Besides, he's totally into you!"

"How do you know?"

"Because from what you tell me, it's totally obvious! And Roxas is loyal. He's the perfect guy."

Naminé rolled her eyes.

"Enough of the fan girl comments, if you don't mind, Kai. I need serious mental help."

"Okay, okay."

There was a moment of silence.

"Is she pretty?" Kairi asked.

"Who?" Naminé replied.

"No Name!"

"Oh, yeah. Gorgeous. Her hair's silkier than silk itself! And her face is so delicate it makes me want to vomit."

"That may be because of your situation..."

"Doesn't matter! And she has the perfect body too! Any guy would fantasize over her! Even Roxas can't withstand from such perfectness!"

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do! He's still human, you know!"

There was a pause while Naminé wiped her eyes.

"So you said her name begins with a T?"

"T stands for 'terrible'," Naminé snapped defensively.

"T also stands for 'trouble.'"

"No doubt about it."

The doorbell suddenly rang. Naminé covered the phone's mouth piece.

"TIDUS! GET THE DOOR!" she bellowed at her brother.

She turned back to the phone with a sigh.

"It looks like our relationship is on it's deathbed," Naminé remarked.

"Maybe..."

The doorbell rang again.

"_TIDUS!!"_ she yelled again. _"DOOR!!" _

She rolled her eyes. Her brother was so irresponsible.

"Anyway, Sora will be happy. We could pretend it never happened and he won't know a thing."

"Yeah, I guess that heals up one wound. I wouldn't have to be lying to him about your Naminé anymore."

When the doorbell rang a third time, Naminé let out an anguished sigh.

"Just a second, Kairi." She threw the phone down on her bed and walked down the stairs, opening the door to the impatient visitor. "Sorry about that..."

Her eyes landed on Roxas and she felt the words catch in her throat.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" she stuttered, knowing all too well what the answer was.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" he snapped. "You _ran away from me_!"

The angry words were enough, but the way Roxas's lip was sticking out defiantly and his blue eyes were narrowed lit a fire in the pit of Naminé's stomach. She wanted to slap him, slam the door in his face, stomp upstairs and spiel to Kairi about the whole thing. Instead, like she had learned in kindergarten, she used her words.

"Do you realize what happened back there?!" Naminé cried. "You forgot all about the bet! You...you forgot all about me! Because of No Name!"

"Who?" Roxas looked confused.

"That woman who you were talking to!" Naminé burst. "T something!"

Roxas threw her a confused look until he finally understood.

"You mean Tifa," he said.

"No Name! Tifa! Whatever! She's got you, hook, line, and sinker! You totally forgot about the bet! Admit it!"

Roxas nodded slowly.

"I did forget the bet," he admitted. "That doesn't mean I forgot about you."

"Oh, please!" Naminé flared. "Who would remember a person like me when they're with a glamorous supermodel?!"

"Actress," Roxas corrected.

"Eh?"

"Tifa's an actress. We're both acting together in an upcoming movie, and that's why I was with her. We go way back, but not like that. If Naminé thought my intentions were anything otherwise, then you're wrong."

Naminé's mouth fell open. She probably looked like some deranged fish, but she was physically incapable of looking calm right at that moment.

"Besides, if I had forgotten about you, I wouldn't have run all the way here, rung the doorbell three times, and looked like an idiot in front of your neighbors, would I?" he added.

"Probably not..." Naminé chuckled nervously.

She couldn't believe she had jumped to conclusions like that. Kairi had been right! She had never lost her sanity like that before. How silly.

"Come here, you," Roxas sighed, pulling the blonde girl into a hug and kissing her on the forehead.

Naminé flushed. She felt like a five year old. How could she doubt someone like Roxas?

"I can't believe it," he said, pulling away from her and letting out a toothy grin. "You were jealous of _Tifa_! That's hilarious!"

"I was not jealous!" Naminé cried defensively, slapping his arm.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so hard to doubt someone like Roxas.

"Besides, if the T in Tifa doesn't stand for 'trouble', what _does_ it stand for?" Naminé asked.

"'Tulips'?" Roxas suggested.

"'Terror'," Naminé said. "'Tarantula'. 'Tick'."

Roxas laughed.

"You know, Nam, I never noticed it before, but you're mean," he stated.

"No, I'm not!" Naminé pouted. "I just can't think of any good words that begin with T!"

Tidus appeared at the door with a humored grin on his face.

"How about 'Tidus'?" he questioned with a smile.

"Ugh!" Naminé made a face. "Definitely not! That's worse than 'tarantula'!"

"Okay, just for that, I'll keep my conversation with Kairi," Tidus said, holding up the phone. "Yes, Kairi. Naminé _did_ wet the bed until she was eight..."

"Tidus! Give me the phone! GIVE ME THE PHONE, TIDUS!!" Naminé launched at her younger brother, knocking him senseless as she pried the electronic gadget from his limp fingers.

As Roxas laughed and Tidus groaned, Naminé felt a strange feeling of elation. Things were going to be okay from now on. And she was never going to lose herself to such ridiculous thoughts ever again.

**Okay, so, thank you for reading. I am exhausted. I don't even like camping. But oh well. No one said life was easy. In fact most people tell me it's hard. I guess I'll always have stuff to look forward to then. **

**Read and review if you don't mind, and if you do that's not very nice! **

**Nighty-night. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Tifa, etc. **

**Author's Note: Um…I just realized I haven't updated in a really long time. I blame it on my language teacher. She is giving me way too much homework.**

**Warning: …Perhaps I should stop making warnings?**

**Quick Author Babble: …Tee hee.**

Chapter 11: One Day of Peace

"Good work on the set today, people!" Roxas heard the familiar voice of the director call out. He yawned, stretched, scratched his head in boredom, and turned to leave.

"Disappointing…as usual."

Roxas halted at the voice and turned to look over his shoulder at the smirking, brunette girl. Her reddish brown eyes were twinkling with mirth.

"What's disappointing about me today, Tifa?" he sighed, rolling his eyes humorously.

"Well, I just noticed you're not half as attractive as you are in front of the camera," Tifa replied. "Very disappointing."

Roxas scratched his cheek.

"Meh," he said, shrugging it off. "That only means I'm a brilliant actor."

"So humble," Tifa teased.

"As usual," Roxas added.

Tifa leaned against the wall beside the exit, the normal glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Where are you going so early, Roxy?" she questioned. Roxas turned bright red in a mix of anger and embarrassment at being called "Roxy." Even though Tifa called him that all the time, it wasn't exactly appreciated. "You do realize there's a staff party today…?"

"Yeah, I heard something about that," he answered coolly, "but I have more important plans. Besides, all they serve at those 'parties' are cucumber sandwiches. No, thanks."

"Ooh…'more important plans', eh?" Tifa nudged him elegantly with her elbow. "Could those 'more important plans' have something to do with a certain blonde girl whose name begins with an N?"

Roxas smiled.

"Maybe."

"Ha! 'Maybe'! I'm willing to bet my beauty on it!"

Roxas stuck out his lower lip jokingly as Tifa chuckled.

"Don't tease," he pouted.

"So…" Tifa stopped laughing and leaned forward as if sharing a secret, "when are you going to pop the question?"

"EH?!" Roxas stumbled backwards, tripped over a stray mop, and in a fantastic finale went tumbling out the door.

Tifa came running out and peered down on him, indeed making Roxas feel very inferior. Instead of offering him help or asking if he was okay, Tifa did things in her own way.

"You know, Roxas, you never seemed like the type to be frightened of commitment," Tifa remarked, putting one foot on Roxas's stomach, which provoked a grunt out of the blond. "Guess I was wrong…again."

"Again?" Roxas peered up at her curiously.

"Yeah. When I first met you, I thought you were the handsome, friendly, hard-working type." She chuckled. "Boy, was I wrong about that!"

Roxas frowned and pushed off her foot.

"Didn't I tell you to not tease?" he snapped, getting off the ground and wiping his pants.

"Hmm…In a bad mood now that I mentioned your faults?" Tifa asked, wrapping a strand of silky, chocolate hair around her index finger.

"Of course not. You do that all the time anyway." Roxas crossed his arms and glared at the sky with almost accusation. Tifa nodded in agreement. "It's about Naminé."

"Ooh, gossip on Miss Cupid herself?" Tifa said in a slick voice as she sat herself on a pile of wooden crates. "Do tell!"

"I have a feeling that she doesn't trust me," Roxas admitted. "Like, the other day, she got worried about me and you."

"Moi?" Tifa feigned surprise and flicked her hair back. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm far too fabulous for you, Roxas."

"Sure you are," Roxas stated sarcastically. "But that's beside the point. She's uncertain about our relationship."

"Oh," Tifa stated, putting a finger over her mouth. "So teasing about marriage is a no-no?"

"A definite no-no," Roxas replied, glaring at her.

Tifa shrugged and jumped off the crate.

"Give her time. You haven't been going out for very long. She'll ease up."

Roxas sighed and nodded.

"I just want a little more trust. Can't I ask for at least that much?"

**xXx**

Roxas found himself outside of the shabby Clark house once again. His eyes traveled up and down the haunted-looking building, watching its paint peel and its wooden boards creak. Stepping through the overly grassy lawn, he rang the doorbell, which sounded very weak and broken, and lazily lolled his head back to the sky.

After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a sixteen-year-old boy with dirty blond hair and cobalt eyes. He had tanned, almost brown, skin and he looked bizarrely muscular.

"Hey, Tidus," Roxas remarked with a wave.

"Oh, it's you," the boy remarked snappily, rolling his eyes. "What a surprise."

Roxas forced a smile.

"Is Naminé here?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Nope." Tidus yawned and kicked a stone at his feet.

"Oh." Roxas groaned inwardly. Of course she wouldn't be home—she's bound to be at work.

"Well, if that's all you want…goodbye," Tidus said with a tone of finality, closing the door in Roxas's face. Roxas held out his foot and the door stopped. Pushing the door open again, he frowned at the younger boy.

"Can I wait for her here?" he asked, although it came out sounding more like a demand. He had nothing else to do anyway.

Tidus looked at him with what looked like deep annoyance. Finally, he turned his back on him and started walking into the house.

"If you want to feel up my sister that badly, then I guess you come inside," he called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Roxas felt like he'd just been hit with an electric jolt. What a bratty kid! Tidus had always seemed like the happy-go-lucky type…Roxas wondered what had happened to his perky demeanor. Puberty, maybe…?

Ah, well. Roxas took off his shoes and looked around the rather unfamiliar house. Where could he wait? He decided to go into the living room, since Tidus was in the kitchen, and Roxas definitely didn't need his company any time soon.

He walked in to find the lights already on. He looked around and nearly jumped back as he saw a woman lying on the couch.

She looked very tiny and pale. Her hair was bright blonde and her eyes a weak blue. Her breathing was funny and she was shaking a little, even though she was covered by a thick quilt. Even though Roxas had never seen her before, she looked very familiar…

Could she be…Naminé's mother?

The longer he looked the righter he seemed. They looked almost identical, except the older woman's hair was blonder than Naminé's, and she seemed smaller too.

The woman's blue orbs landed on Roxas. He froze, feeling very distant.

"Hello," the woman greeted in a small, wavering voice. "You must be Roxas."

She looked very fragile. Her voice was sweet and sincere, but it sounded as if she was forcing the words out. She coughed loudly before returning her tired eyes to him.

"H-Hi," he stuttered, waving awkwardly. "Um…you…you're…?"

"Naminé's mother," she finished for him with a smile. "Correct."

She looked sickly. And not just got-a-cough-in-my-throat sickly—far more major than that.

"Are you…" Roxas slowly sat down on the sofa beside hers, "sick?"

"I'd prefer not the term 'sick', but 'temporarily held back'," the woman replied conversationally, grinning all the way.

"E-Eh…h-how…how bad?" Roxas knew he was getting into a rather uncomfortable conversation, especially since he already knew the answer.

"I have lung cancer," she answered easily. "I've been diagnosed with it for the past seven years."

Roxas's eyes widened in alarm. He couldn't believe it. Was this the reason Naminé had only gotten as far as the local movie theatre for her career? And more importantly, why hadn't he known about this?

"I…I'm so sorry!" Roxas exclaimed, feeling a strange urge to jump off the couch and run around in circles. "I had no idea!"

"Sorry?" Mrs. Clark repeated, bewildered. "Quite the contrary! It's miraculous that I'm still here today! Living for seven years with lung cancer without treatment is quite the feat!"

"No…treatment?" Roxas guiltily dug his fingernails into his pants. "None at all?"

"Don't give me that look. I am very happy. My two children are taking care of me and one another. It gives me joy to look at them."

Roxas looked down at the floor and felt a lump grow in his throat.

"However, I do have one regret," the courageous woman admitted.

"What?" Roxas questioned. Maybe this was something he could solve.

"What I've done to Naminé," Mrs. Clark said with a note of sadness in her voice. "She is so brilliant and amazing, and I've held her back selfishly all these years. Look at what she's been reduced to! Working at the local cinema for a living! Oh, how her father would have hated that!"

The ill woman shook her head in shame.

"All I'm hoping for now is that I'm long gone by the time Tidus graduates," she murmured. "Then he won't have to live with the same burden."

"Don't say things like that," Roxas said quietly. "Things will get better."

She smiled at him. The familiar, gentle notion of happiness washed over the emotional actor. She looked a lot like Naminé when she smiled. The thought of Naminé pierced him. She'd dealt with all this since she was eighteen. She'd given up a cushy life to take care of her family. The thought made him sad. He almost wanted to leave. Of course, his more rational mind was telling him he couldn't do that. He needed to talk to Naminé still. That was what he came for, wasn't it? And now he felt he needed to talk to her more than ever.

"I'm very pleased with you, Roxas," Miss Clark remarked. "You seem very kind-hearted."

"Uh…thanks," Roxas replied, feeling a little more than awkward.

"Also, I've seen quite a few of your movies," Miss Clark continued, laughing. "Quite the stud, you are. Of course, you're a lot less corny as the real thing."

"Good," Roxas remarked. "I would kill myself if I was like one of my characters."

Miss Clark laughed. At that moment, the door swung open and Naminé walked in, her red _Sunset Cinema_ apron still tied around her waist. She removed her cap from her head and shook out her golden hair.

"Welcome home, Naminé," Miss Clark greeted.

"Evening, Mum…" Naminé stopped short as she turned her pale blue eyes to Roxas sitting on the couch. Eh. Now Roxas was feeling very, very awkward indeed. "Oh, Roxas! I didn't know you were coming over!"

"It was unplanned," Roxas remarked. "I…er…met your mother." He gestured to the almost white woman on the sofa.

The silence rung in Roxas's ears. Naminé had her eyes locked with his, very severe and serious-looking. She knew as well as he did that she had kept her mother's condition a secret for a reason.

"Roxas, can I talk to you outside for a second?" she asked in a very hollow tone.

"Sure," Roxas obliged. He wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing or not, presenting the situation in such a blunt manner, but it was too late to do anything now.

They went out into the overgrown backyard. Standing on the wooden deck raised above the tall grass, Roxas looked at Naminé with his most serious face—his "Scrooge face", as Hayner liked to call it—and tried not to laugh as Naminé did the same. They looked like an old couple ready to break into a fight. Ha, ha, ha.

Wait…what?

"Roxas," Naminé said in a steady voice, "you might've heard a lot."

"Only recently, it seems," Roxas replied a little snippily, nestling his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wall.

"Listen, I…" The blonde girl readied herself for a good, long explanation.

"Your mother has cancer." Roxas cut right across her, his voice pointed and direct.

"Yes," Naminé stated, almost as if he had asked a question. "Yes, she does."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Silence was the only reply to his question. His eyes would not leave her. She stood straighter.

"It never came up," she said rather defensively.

"It _should_ have come up. Your mother is in a critical state! She needs healthcare and medical treatment—nothing you can afford with your crappy job." Roxas was on the verge of yelling, but he restrained himself.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Naminé turned out to be the first one to yell.

"I know you are! But it's not good enough! You should have told me! You know I have more than enough money to spare! Your mother can get treated, you can finally find yourself a suitable job, and Tidus can lead a normal high school life! Everybody wins!"

"No, everyone _doesn't_ win! How can I do that? Take your money so easily and walk away with it as if it's water!"

"Then I'll make it a loan! When you earn enough money…"

"No! I have my pride, you know. It wouldn't be right! I'll never be able to pay you back."

There was a long silence. Roxas frowned. He had a stubborn, independent girlfriend, which was not, despite rumors, a good thing.

"Fine," he sighed, "for today. But mark my words, Naminé Clark, there's going to be a day when your pride means nothing to me."

Naminé smiled a tiny smile before edging her way towards the door.

"Thanks."

He shrugged in response and leaned back on his heels. It was at that moment that he felt true heroism run through his veins. This was going to be…an interesting relationship.

**Okay, well, farewell. I am insanely bored out of my mind today, and writing isn't helping. Better get out, and quickly too. **

**Read and review!**

**Sayanora! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Tidus, etc. **

**Author's Note: Oh my God, guys! I'm getting back into the writing groove! …Dear Lord. I just said "groove." Well, anyway, this is the **_**second**_** time I updated this week! I know! I can hardly believe it myself! Aren't you all proud of me? Well, anyway, this chapter is what I'd like to call a "launcher chapter", which basically means it's in preparation for a big, insanely dramatic chapter next time. Don't say I didn't warn you. **

**Warning: Aw, man! I just ruined the warning!**

**Quick Author Babble: Wah! School is starting soon! I feel so bad for myself!**

Chapter 12: Fire Me Up

Naminé got up the next morning feeling completely energy-drained. Roxas knew everything…or at least she was pretty sure. Her mom wasn't known for keeping things private after all. There were no mentions about her father at least. Naminé didn't like to talk about her father to anyone but Tidus. Even Roxas wasn't an exception to that rule.

It was going to be absolute hell at work today. She could already tell just by looking in the mirror at the giant, dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a raccoon. Obviously Leon wouldn't let her serve customers in this state. She'd probably be cleaning the whole day.

In the middle of tying her apron, Naminé groaned and half-fell, her head resting against the wall, supporting her entire body. She was so _tired_. Dating Roxas was not healthy, she noted mentally as she used all her strength to stand up straight.

Leaving her room even with her shirt buttoned wrong and her hair an absolute mess, she stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Tidus was half-mindedly cooking eggs as he read _Romeo and Juliet_. He looked up when his sister entered the room.

"Don't you look lovely today," he said sarcastically, taking the pan off the oven and allowing the eggs to slide onto a plate.

"Coffee," Naminé groaned, collapsing into a chair at the little, scratched up table the family shared. She was too tired to pay any attention to her brother's snooty remarks.

"Sure," Tidus agreed, showing a little sympathy for his battle worn sister. "Just a second." He disappeared into the living room. "Mom! Your eggs are ready!"

He came back in and took out the coffee powder from the cupboard, eyes still glued on his book. Naminé watched him carefully.

"I don't remember you being so literate," she finally stated as his eyes once again returned to the book after finishing the first step to making the coffee.

"Ha, ha," he snapped, rolling his eyes. "No coffee for you, Miss Sour Puss."

"Sorry, sorry!" Naminé apologized quickly in alarm. The threat was too much for her to bear. "I promise I won't mention it again!"

"Good." Tidus stuck his tongue out at her and continued reading. He looked up to notice Naminé's wide, curious eyes still staring at him. He sighed in defeat. "It's for English. I'm supposed to read it over summer vacation. I thought I'd get a head start for once."

Naminé raised her eyebrows. This was new.

"Well, I'm glad you're reading _something_," she remarked. "How do you like it so far?"

"It stinks," Tidus answered bluntly. "It's totally unrealistic. Romance isn't my thing, anyway. Too much kissing and touching…brr." Tidus shivered and removed the coffee pot from the coffee maker, taking out a mug and pouring the steaming, brown liquid into it.

"Well, even if romance isn't your thing…" Naminé pressed on, "you honestly don't think it can happen? For someone to love someone so much that they can't live on without them?"

"What do you mean?" Tidus asked, pushing the mug towards her.

"You know, at the end," Naminé explained. "Romeo thinks Juliet is dead and kills himself because of it. Didn't you know that?"

"No, but that saved me a lot of reading!" Tidus grinned cheerfully. "Thanks, Naminé!"

Naminé rolled her eyes. The only person in the world who doesn't know how _Romeo and Juliet_ ends is, of course, her brother. How humiliating. Naminé took a sip of her coffee. Tidus glanced at her before turning around to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"You know…maybe it could happen…" Tidus said very seriously. "But only…if you loved that person enough."

Even though his back was facing her, Naminé could tell Tidus was blushing. Romance, after all, really wasn't his thing.

"Yes, I agree." Naminé beamed at him.

"I wouldn't worry about it though," Tidus continued, spinning around. "After all, we're going to find out today."

"How's that?" asked Naminé, taking another sip of coffee.

"Once Roxas sees you, we just check if he kills himself or not." Tidus laughed at his own joke.

"_Tidus!" _growled Naminé, getting up from her chair.

"Oh, what's the time?" Tidus said quickly, looking down at his watch. "Looks like I might miss the bus! See ya!"

Tidus raced past his furious sister as he made his way out of the house. Had he already forgotten he didn't have school at all for the next two months?

Ah, well. Naminé looked into her coffee cup at her dark reflection. Yeesh, she really _did_ look terrible. But dead?

Naminé sighed and quickly chugged down the rest of her coffee. She burnt her tongue but paid it no mind as she grabbed her bag and fast-walked into the foyer, where she put on her old, beat-up sneakers and exchanged a final glance at her mom.

"Bye, Mom," she said to the sickly woman. "I'm going to work."

"Have a nice time, sweetie," Mrs. Clark replied. "I'm just going to sit here and read for awhile."

"When Tidus comes back I'm sure he'll entertain you," Naminé stated comfortingly. "I'll be back in time for dinner."

And with a quick wave, the eldest child of the household took her leave.

**xXx**

"Naminé, you look terrible," Leon said very straightforwardly—maybe _too_ straightforwardly—as his female employee walked into Sunset Cinema that morning. Leon didn't seem too concerned about it, though. He just casually blurted it out as if to make conversation. That was Leon for you—about the worst guy to socialize with on the face of the planet.

"Thanks, _Squall_," Naminé snapped, accenting on the man's _real_ first name to get even.

Leon twitched before turning around and scowling at her. Naminé could tell the words "it's Leon" were on the tip of his tongue, and it made her smile evilly.

Squall Leonhart wasn't a bad boss. He really wasn't. As a matter of fact, ever since Naminé had come in on that rainy day after her graduation ceremony almost in tears, he had taken her in with all the sympathy a guy like him could muster. In fact, Leon was like a father to her, especially since she lost her real father many years ago. The only difference was Leon was _way_ younger than her real father would have been, not to mention _way_ better-looking. But Naminé wouldn't get into that, because talking about your employer that way is just plain creepy.

"You know, Naminé, it isn't wise for you to insult me," Leon stated. "I could fire you in a second."

"Yeah, but you would never do that," Naminé remarked matter-of-factly, "because your Leon, and, despite your formidable impression, you're actually a really sensitive guy."

It was true. Leon, despite being relatively handsome, picked absolutely the _worst_ look a guy could go with. He grew his dark brown hair down to his shoulders and wore black leather _all_ the time, coated with chains and spiky belts and other scary things that made little kids cry when they came across him on the street. It didn't help that Leon never smiled either, or that he had a great, big scar on his forehead that he got from a fight when he was a teenager or something. Overall, a pretty scary-looking guy. But, as Naminé had proven before, he was perfectly friendly…not social, but friendly.

"What makes you think that I wouldn't…? Wait. Formidable? Sensitive? Ugh…" Leon threw her a look of pure disgust. "I don't even know where to start with you."

Naminé smiled innocently at the gothic man. This deepened Leon's frown.

"Okay…" he sighed, rubbing his temples like he usually did when he was agitated. "For that, no customer service today. Have fun scraping the gum off the bottom of the seats."

At that Naminé threw up a little in her mouth.

"_Ew!_" she whined, making a face of horror. "How can you do that to me, Leon? Get Demyx to do it!"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Well, first of all, I don't even want to _think_ about mixing Demyx with gum, and second, you tried to pick a fight with me. This is your punishment."

With that, Leon coolly made his way into the "Employees Only" room. Naminé stood there pouting by herself. She knew she wouldn't be serving customers today looking like she did, but scraping gum off the bottom of the seats? That was harsh.

Naminé sighed as she went to get the scraper. Mental note: Do not make fun of Leon. He may have been sensitive sometimes, but somewhere in there he was as cold as he looked.

**xXx**

Sometime later in the morning, as Naminé was trying to pry a particular stubborn glob of gum on the bottom of a filthy seat in aisle eight, trying not to think about what she was doing—which was, basically, trying to cooperate with pieces of chewy candy covered in strangers' saliva—she suddenly got the strange feeling that she was being watched. At first she got a little frightened and almost quit the job at hand, but then she reasoned with herself that it was probably Leon making sure she was working hard or Demyx with some dumb question like, "How do you work the soda machine again?" She didn't really care to see either, so she continued with her dirty chore, hiding herself underneath the seat to get—ugh—a better view of the sticky substance.

Suddenly there was a lump—a big, heavy lump caving the bottom of the seat, and Naminé's current ceiling, so that it was putting pressure on her back. A moment after she had gotten her thoughts together, the blonde girl realized someone was sitting on the seat. Naminé was getting ready to peer over at her company when suddenly she saw a pair of two, upside down, deep blue eyes.

"Eek!" Naminé let out a shriek of more surprise than terror because, after all, she knew there was some person sitting on top of her.

"Hey, Naminé," said a chirpy voice. "How's work going?"

For the first time Naminé paid notice to the spiky, brown tresses brushing the carpeted floor of the theatre.

"Sora?" Naminé asked, peering closer to the face to clarify it was him. "Oh, thank God! You scared me!"

"Yeah, Kairi said I do that to most people," replied the girl's second best friend, doing a little flip so that he was right way up and off the seat. "Pleasant company, that girl."

"Aw, you know she likes you," Naminé remarked, smiling.

"No, no, she's completely in love with me," Sora replied confidently, grinning toothily.

"Oh, really? And what makes you so sure of yourself?"

"She told me that a _long_ time ago, and, considering she can still stand my being around her, I have decided that she is completely mine."

"That's very possessive of you."

"Thanks, I know."

Naminé giggled. Sora had obviously had coffee today. Good news for all.

"By the way…" Naminé added, her voice now in an almost silent whisper, "how'd you get in here? The theatre's still closed."

"Oh, easy," Sora answered, "I used my wit and charm to talk Leon into getting me in here."

"Seriously?" asked Naminé, eyes wide with admiration.

"Of course not!" cried Sora, using his you're-so-stupid tone. "I snuck in through the open window in the employees' room."

"What?!" Naminé hissed, attempting standing up but instead banging her head against the plastic underbelly of the seat. She winced in pain. "Ow! What was I saying…? Oh, right. He's going to kill you! And after that, he's going to kill me! Or worse…fire me!"

"First of all, you've got to get your priorities straightened out. And second, Leon wouldn't fire you. He's too soft-hearted…I think."

"I don't know…" Naminé bit her lip uncertainly. "I teased him a bit today and that's why I was assigned to gum duty."

Sora looked up at her latest assignment and grimaced.

"Pleasant."

"Yeah, I know."

"Come on, Naminé, it's nothing to worry about. And if you're really _that_ concerned, I'll just sneak back out right now."

"I'd prefer that, thanks," the nervous cinema worker responded, attempting pushing him out. Sora, the unfortunately stronger human being, didn't budge an inch.

"Not so fast, Miss Clark," he remarked, pinching her nose. "Unfortunately for you, there's something we have to discuss."

"What's that?" Naminé questioned in a Donald Duck voice, feeling slightly irritated.

"You and your work."

"What about it?"

"There's too much of it. The only way I could see you at all this week was coming to your work place. Isn't that embarrassing? More for you than for me, of course, but you know. And when was the last time you saw Kairi? Huh?"

"Well…" Sora was speaking the truth for once. Naminé bit her lip and tried to remember. Though Sora was unknowing to the fact that Naminé was dating Roxas, he was still right about her not seeing them very much. Was it really _that_ time consuming?

"I see," Sora remarked, nodding knowingly. "Well then, I've also come to tell you that you're meeting us on Saturday for lunch at twelve at the Sandy Witch."

"Saturday?! But I have to work on…!"

"Bye, Naminé." Sora winked at her before disappearing into the endless gum-strewn aisles.

"Bye, Sora," Naminé sighed, picking up the scraper once more, wondering just how much more complicated her life could be.

**xXx**

Naminé swung her bag over her shoulder as she made her way out the door. She felt absolutely disgusting, even after washing her hands about fifty times, not to mention she _still_ looked like a walking disaster. She just wanted to go home and sleep.

"Bye, Demyx," she said to her fellow worker as she passed him. "I'll leave the rest of the clean up to you. Tell Leon I left, okay?"

"Sure, Naminé," Demyx obliged, sweeping up the candy wrappers and loose popcorn kernels off the floor. "See you tomorrow."

As Naminé was walking out, behind her she heard a bang and a yelp. She sighed and shook her head. Demyx had hit himself with the broom again. Deciding to ignore the conflict and leave the teenage boy with what little dignity he had left, she exited and breathed in the clean, evening air. It was so stuffy in the cinema.

"Naminé!"

The voice caused her head to whip around at a neck breaking speed. No, it wasn't possible…it couldn't have been…no, the gods just weren't that cruel…

Roxas was staring at her with his welcoming, cerulean eyes, his lips curled in his normal, teasing smile.

"What's the matter?" he remarked jokingly, seemingly amused by her horrified expression. "Am I that scary?"

Alarm bells went off in the blonde girl's head. Roxas was here! And she looked like a mess! She frantically tried to comb down her hair with her fingers so she could look mildly presentable. But her eyes! What was she going to do about her eyes?!

"Hey, hey." Roxas wrestled her flailing wrists back down. "Jeez, Naminé, what was that? A seizure?"

"No," Naminé murmured, looking downward so he wouldn't have to see her zombie-like face. "Just bad timing on your part."

"Is that so?" Roxas bent down so he could get a better look at her face. "What happened? Did Cinderella get a little dust on her face?"

Naminé turned her head from him again.

"Shut up," she pouted, not liking Roxas's playfulness at all.

"Okay, okay. I was just teasing." He kissed her on the top of her head, which, as usual, gave her an electric shock-like feeling. Red came rushing to her cheeks. No matter how many times he did that, she couldn't get used to it.

"Hey, stop that!" she shouted, stepping away from her boyfriend. "People can see us, you know!"

Roxas stuck his lip out and made puppy eyes at her.

"Aww…you hurt my feelings," he whined. Naminé ground her teeth.

"I'm going home!" Wheeling around, she started storming down the street. Roxas raced up behind her.

"How ironic," he remarked, folding his arms behind his head. "I'm heading there too."

**xXx**

As Naminé and Roxas approached the walkway of her house, Naminé had completely forgotten about her terrible day, which is pretty much a miracle because, well, that was the _worst_ day anyone could _ever_ imagine…if they weren't very good at imagining things, that is.

"Thanks for walking me home, Roxas," Naminé stated with a smile as they walked up the front steps.

"Oh, yeah," Roxas said, running a hand through his hair before throwing her his in-front-of-the-camera smile. "Aren't you thrilled? Not everyone gets to be walked home by Roxas Hernandez."

"You know, you're starting to sound a lot like Hayner," Naminé remarked. Roxas immediately frowned.

"Hey. I was kidding. There was no need to insult me."

"Sorry, _Your Majesty_," Naminé giggled, feeling happy—over-the-top happy.

"Well, now that I'm through being gentlemanly…"

"You? Gentlemanly?"

"…I was wondering if you were free on Saturday."

Naminé froze at the words. She really, really wanted to say yes, but her mind drifted to that afternoon. She had agreed—well, if the person who invited you walked out the door before you replied was considered agreeing—to meet Sora and Kairi at the Sandy Witch on Saturday, and judging by Sora's tone, she was guessing there was no escaping this one.

"Um…well, actually…" Naminé stuttered awkwardly, "I have something I have to do…that day…"

"Work doesn't count, Naminé," Roxas remarked dryly.

"I know that!" the blonde girl snapped defensively. "I'm just busy! Is that so hard to believe?"

Roxas leaned in, looking her straight in the eye. It made Naminé feel nervous and incredibly self-conscious.

"Naminé Clark, are you lying to me?" he asked slowly and carefully, almost venomously. Before Naminé had a chance to reply, he stood up straight and started pacing. "What is it? Are you committing some sort of crime? Robbery? Gasp! Bank theft?! No, wait! Could you be some sort of superhero that…"

Naminé whacked him with her bag.

"Will you shut up?!" she yelled. "I'm being serious!"

Roxas sent her a darting stare.

"Another guy?" he remarked. Naminé froze.

"What?"

"You heard me. Are you _cheating_ on me, Naminé?"

It would almost have been an intense moment if Roxas hadn't smiled and given it away. Naminé kicked him in the shin.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! All I'm doing is meeting Sora and Kairi at the Sandy Witch! There! Happy now?"

"Sora?" Roxas repeated with a frown. "I don't like him."

"Believe it or not, he's not too fond of you either," Naminé remarked, crossing her arms.

"I see," Roxas stated gravely, looking down at his shoes. "Well, in that case…"

He looked up with a frightening grin.

"I'm going too!" he concluded cheerfully then ran out of harm's way. "Bye, Naminé!"

"Wh…wha…_what_?" Naminé stuttered, absolutely befuddled. She sighed. Roxas was more affective than a shot of caffeine. She wouldn't be surprised if he was filled with coffee instead of water.

Naminé sighed as she walked into her house. Whatever happened on Saturday, she was pretty sure she would need _a lot_ of rest to live through it.

**Well, how did you enjoy my launcher chapter? Be honest. It was really boring, right? See, this is why I call it a launcher chapter. It's dull, but I assure you it is necessary. Maybe I should change the name to a "preparing to launch chapter". Well, anyway. I am excited. I haven't written in this story for so long (approximately two and a half months ago) that I've forgotten my basic storyline! But it's okay. I read it through and I think I remember. Okay, so maybe it's a bit disconcerting. But I promise it'll be fine. **

**Oh, wait. There was a bit of confusion over Tidus's age. I'll clear that up. Okay, so, originally Tidus was fourteen years old. But then I started doing the math in my head and I didn't think it added up, and the more I got into it the more confused I got so finally I just used the default age: sixteen. So no, the math won't add up so don't attempt it. Trust me. You don't want to.**

**Read and review!**

**Au revoir, mes amis. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own ANYTHING. Except for the Sandy Witch. And Roxas's outfit.**

**Author's Note: Oh my God…this chapter made my head want to explode…whoozy…oh so whoozy…Well, after a very **_**long**_** time, this is what you get. Was this really deserving of a launcher chapter? I do not think so, personally. Perhaps this itself was a launcher chapter. I have lost track already…oh, ho, ho, ho…**

**Warning: (I do not know this time! Hee, hee, hee!) **

**Quick Author Babble: No, I didn't have any alcoholic beverages today. **

Chapter 13: Saccharine

Roxas buttoned up his shirt and examined himself in the mirror. It was okay, but was it good enough? He needed to be especially seductive today. That darned Sora! He just can't stop hanging around Naminé, huh? Well, he'd show him! He'd show them all! He paused to cackle evilly, but stopped halfway through because it didn't make him any better-looking. He turned back to his closet and tried on another shirt. This one was a pale blue and had a dark blue design on the back. He looked back at his reflection and frowned. Did he have to wear a tie with this? He sighed, depressed. He really didn't like ties…

Suddenly the doorbell rang, distracting the blond from his current task. He dropped the tie idea for the moment to walk across the many, lovely hallways of his mansion to the tall, polished door. He tried to look at the person through the crystal window, which turned out to be a dumb idea because everything was distorted and you couldn't tell a tree from a person. The doorbell rang impatiently a second time, so Roxas finally threw open the door.

"Hey, Roxas!" Olette smiled at him, her brown braids glistening in the late morning sun. "Nice shirt."

"Olette! Thank God! Come in!" Roxas grabbed his friend by her shoulders and dragged her in. "I have a problem! I'm having lunch with Naminé and her friends today and I need to look as sexy as possible!"

Olette gave him a look that suggested that he go to a mental asylum.

"And exactly how to you expect me to help with that?" she asked slowly as to not upset him.

"You're a female," Roxas replied. Olette showed her agreement to this statement with a curt nod. "What would _you_ like to see me wear?"

Olette opened her mouth to respond, but Roxas quickly silenced her by muffling her with his hand.

"Not yet!" he remarked warningly. "First see what I have."

He dragged her into his bedroom and promptly ordered her to look through his clothes for something she would find appropriate. The green-eyed girl looked hopelessly through the piles of men's clothing as he sat on his bed and watched her with the eyes of a hawk. Finally Olette pulled out a bright orange t-shirt.

"This is cute," she remarked admiringly, grinning.

"We're not looking for '_cute_', Olette," Roxas disagreed, shaking his head. "We're looking for 'hot'. 'Handsome'. 'Dashing'."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Olette replied, chucking the orange shirt away and pouting. "Ah, here's something!"

She reached into a pile and pulled out a blue collared shirt. It wasn't _that_ bad. Maybe.

She chucked it at Roxas. He frowned at the shirt. This looked like something that would go with a dreaded tie. He gave Olette a puppy look. She shook her head as if to say "too bad" before turning around and looking for pants. Roxas sighed and collapsed on his bed. Since when did Roxas Hernandez, the most popular, good-looking actor that ever hit the big screen, take fashion advice from a _girl_? Fans would be devastated if they found out.

In all honesty, Roxas usually took advice from Olette, since Hayner wasn't exactly the best option for a guru. Olette never said anything mean to him either and she never judged him for what he told her, which made her very easy to talk to. But fashion advice was different. It was like Roxas was one of those Ken dolls and Olette was the excited, eight-year-old girl who liked to decide what he would wear for his latest date with Barbie.

Which was, unfortunately, the case.

**xXx**

Roxas's reflection looked back at him as he stood in front of the mirror. He blinked his gorgeous, blue eyes a couple times before tugging at his khaki jacket. He didn't feel like himself. It was like he was going for one of those interviews on Entertainment Tonight instead of just going to lunch with his girlfriend. He had to admit, though, he _did_ look pretty nice. He smiled half-heartedly at his double before turning back around to consult Olette.

"Well?" he said, sounding uncertain.

"Sexy," the brunette replied, tugging at his collar to make it straighter. "A bit stiff, but still pretty cool."

"If Hayner saw me like this…" Roxas sighed, imagining the dirty blond falling over laughing at the sight of his best friend.

"He won't," Olette confirmed, turning him around so she could wipe some dust off. "He's at practice today. Besides, I don't see what you're complaining about. You look great!"

Finally done her little touch-ups, she took a step back and put her hands in a rectangular shape as if she was holding her camera.

"You're done!" she chirped. "You look awesome!"

Roxas took in a deep, cleansing breath before relaxing his shoulders and turning to walk out of the room. He was pretty sure he'd need therapy of some kind after this.

"Oh, and Roxas!" the excited female called after him.

"Eh?" He turned around to nearly be blinded by a bright flash.

"Smile at the birdie!" she giggled, noticeably too late for the warning. Roxas blinked the colorful spots from his vision before glaring at Olette.

"Olette!" he yelled, fighting the urge to whack the girl over the head. "How could you do that to me?! If Hayner sees that…"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't show it to him," Olette remarked, waving her hand dismissively. "I just wanted to capture the rare moment when Roxas Hernandez has doubts over the way he looks."

"Are you saying I'm egocentric?" Roxas reacted instantly to the statement as he crossed his arms and glared at the emerald-eyed girl.

"No, no, no!" Olette exclaimed, shaking her head quickly. "It's just…well, you've never cared that much about what you wear, Roxas. That's all."

Roxas looked down at his polished shoes. They gleamed in the light shining out of the crystalline windows.

"Yeah, well…" he replied half-heartedly, allowing his voice to drift off.

"You really like Naminé, don't you?" Olette said, leaning down to peer at him from under his gaze. "I've never seen you put so much effort into something like this before."

Roxas exchanged a knowing glance with Olette before straightening himself.

"Yeah, I like her," he replied, scratching the back of his neck and turning the tiniest bit red. "So what? Is there something wrong with liking my girlfriend?"

Olette grinned at him. He was trying so hard to make a good impression on her, and she could tell. She patted him on the back. He could hear her bracelets jingle with each movement.

"No, Roxas," she replied. "Nothing at all."

**xXx**

Roxas walked to the Sandy Witch. The last thing he needed was causing a whole commotion by appearing in his stretch limo. He wanted a nice, quiet lunch with Naminé and her friends. That was all.

He frowned thoughtfully at the sidewalk. Was a quiet lunch possible with Naminé's friends? One had to wonder. Sora hated his guts so much it was likely to turn into a shouting match, and Kairi was such a huge fan of Roxas she could break into squeals at every twitch. Maybe he had been wrong in coming. What was wrong with Naminé spending a little quality time with her friends anyway?

He shook his head. There was no room for any doubts. He had to be his absolute coolest. Sora could just go—

"Roxas!" The celebrity turned his head to look at the blonde girl racing up to him, golden locks flying everywhere. She stopped, bent down, and panted with fatigue before standing up straight to look at him. "You actually came?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Roxas threw her a mischievous grin before looking around. "So where are your buddies from hell?"

"Inside probably," Naminé responded, carefully skipping over his pet names for them. She giggled. "Nervous?"

"Nah." Roxas put his hands in his pockets and found himself showing his usual laidback smile. "Just asking, is all."

Naminé covered her mouth with her hand before continuing to laugh. Roxas looked away, decidedly embarrassed, to be right in the vision of a big camera.

"Say 'cheese'!" cried the nosy photographer, snapping a picture with an even brighter flash than Olette's. Roxas stumbled back and swore loudly, covering his eyes with his hands as he wandered aimlessly through the colorful dots.

"Roxas!" Naminé exclaimed in surprise. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snapped through gritted teeth, "but that photographer's not going to be! Where'd he go, huh?" Roxas pivoted on one foot, looking ready to attack like a crazed animal.

"He took the picture and ran," Naminé replied innocently, pointing in the direction of the nuisance's departure. Roxas swore again. Naminé patted him on the back comfortingly. "Come on, Roxas. It's not like the picture was anything embarrassing. Now let's hurry up and get inside before more come."

"Like bees," Roxas seethed as he held open the door for Naminé and a few other people to walk in. "The nasty, stinging ones too."

The Sandy Witch was a diner that was as old as Twilight Town itself. It became rather famous as the "stomach of show biz" in the sixties. It was no longer referred to by that title anymore, but for advertisement's sake, they still used that as their slogan. In fact, as they walked in, a waitress obviously trying too hard to smile came up to them with a "Welcome to the Sandy Witch, the stomach of show biz! Do you want a booth or a table?" Roxas rolled his eyes. Some things never change.

"There are already some people waiting for us," Roxas said, too annoyed to be polite. "We'll just seat ourselves, thanks."

As he spoke, a familiar red-haired girl looked up and waved an arm frantically to catch their attention. Naminé glided forward with a smile to her best friend's booth. Roxas started to follow her, but the waitress wasn't going to let him off that easily.

"Hey, hold on a second," remarked the waitress, stepping in front of him and looking closely at his face. "Aren't you Roxas Hernandez?"

Roxas was about to throw a snappish reply back at the girl, but he reminded himself he needed to save his energy for Sora. He took a deep breath and channeled his acting circuits.

"Who?" he asked, feigning bewilderment. "Sorry…uh…"—he paused to look at the nametag pinned on the waitress's shirt—"Yuna. You must've mistaken me for someone else. Now if you'll excuse me…"

He strode over to the booth before poor Yuna could get a second word in. Well, whatever. At least he'd avoided a commotion.

When he arrived at the table, the other three seemed to be chatting about things he had no clue about. Well, at least, Kairi and Naminé were chatting—Sora sat in the corner next to Kairi, sipping his coffee and now and again pausing to laugh or add in a two syllable thought. He seemed happy nonetheless. Roxas would undoubtedly ruin that.

Roxas plopped down on the red leather seat beside Naminé, causing the blonde girl to jump. The reaction was instantaneous. Kairi let out an excited squeal as Sora slammed his mug on the table and glared.

"Roxas, I didn't know you were coming!" Kairi cried.

"Neither did I," Sora stated, gritting his teeth as his blue-eyed glare became more ferocious.

Roxas shrugged it all off coolly.

"It was unplanned," he admitted, throwing a smile at both of them. It was one of those neutral grins that could translate into either a happy greeting or a gloating smirk. It was quite obvious which one Sora got as he looked at Naminé accusingly.

"Did you invite him, Naminé?" he asked her pointedly. Naminé's baby blue eyes widened innocently as she sank into her chair. Sora stared her down.

"Yes," she squeaked finally, turning a light pink before quickly adding, "but I don't know if you'd call it inviting, considering the fact he said he was coming and ran off before I could say anything…"

"Why?" he interrupted, glowering at her. Naminé looked about ten times smaller than she had been a moment ago.

"Why?" she repeated, her voice higher-pitched than usual. "Why, you ask? W-Well…why _would_ he come? A good question on your part, Sora…S-So good that I don't even know where to begin to answer…"

Roxas examined Naminé closely as she bit her lip nervously and tapped her fingers together. Something strange was going on. And he had no idea what it was. Well, that sucks. He almost wanted to join Sora in staring her down, but changed his mind considering he realized he _despised_ Sora and his celebrity-hating ways, not to mention that doing so would be punishment to his girlfriend. Before he could say something in defense for the blonde girl, Kairi rushed to her aid.

"Lay off her, Sora," ordered the redhead, nudging him with her elbow. "It doesn't matter _why_ he's here, just that he _is_. And since he's decided to join us for lunch, let's take the opportunity to get to know him better."

"Hmm…okay, good plan," Roxas agreed heartily, leaning on the table and looking directly at Kairi. "My favorite color's green, my favorite animal's a giraffe, and my birthday's…"

"Not like that, stupid," Naminé giggled, pushing his arm. "Your life story. That's what Kairi wants to hear."

"Oh, yes," Kairi remarked eagerly, nodding her head. "And don't put in any boring parts. Skip right to the juicy bits."

"You want juicy?" Roxas scratched his chin thoughtfully as Sora leaned back, crossing his arms. "Hmm…well, I think I might have something."

"Oh, wonderful," Sora remarked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm just _dying_ to hear about it."

"Good to hear," Roxas replied icily, meeting Sora's glare with a mischievous grin, "because you'll need to be in a good mood to hear this one."

"Roxas," Naminé said nervously, putting a hand on his back as she tried to avert his eyes from Sora's, "perhaps you and Sora could play nicely while me and Kairi…"—she stared haltingly at the redhead as she nodded in agreement—"go freshen up."

Roxas sat upright and smiled at her, although he wasn't feeling particularly cheerful. This Sora guy…

"'Go freshen up', huh?" he repeated teasingly, brushing a lock of Naminé's blonde hair. "You must be really desperate to get out of here."

Naminé looked like she had been hit by a bolt of lightning. She shook her head frantically as Roxas laughed good-naturedly. Well, some might define it as "evilly", but calling it "good-naturedly" made it sound much milder.

"It's okay," he chuckled, grinning toothily. "You two go talk about how horrible this afternoon is going while Sora and I become the best of friends. Ain't that right, Sora?"

Sora glared silently at the movie star. Roxas shrugged it off easily.

"I'll get him talking," he told the concerned blonde woman. "You go have a party now, okay?"

Naminé, clearly uncomfortable, nodded and exited quickly. Roxas turned back to Sora, his expression misleadingly pleasant.

"So Sora," he said conversationally, "how are you?"

"I've been better," Sora grunted in reply, looking anywhere—_everywhere_—that Roxas wasn't.

"You and Kairi…are getting pretty serious, aren't you?" Roxas queried innocently, smiling as if he were talking to an old friend. Sora finally met his gaze. His blue eyes were sharp.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped. He was being direct now. That meant this conversation would change drastically, whether for the better or for the worse was up to fate.

Roxas leaned forward so his and Sora's eyes were at the same level. It was time to get serious, even though he enjoyed teasing Sora. The guy was better than a barrel of monkeys.

"I'm here because Naminé's here," he replied honestly. He wasn't one to lie…usually.

"And why would you care about Naminé's whereabouts?" Sora retorted, but before Roxas could answer, he added, "In fact, how do you even _know_ about what Naminé's been doing? She's been so busy with work…"

"What are you talking about?" Roxas was actually a little befuddled by this statement. "Naminé's barely worked at all this past month."

"Then why hasn't she had any time to be with me and Kairi?" Sora seemed to be on the same page.

"Well, because…" Roxas's breath caught as he realized what was going on. Sora didn't know that he and Kairi were dating. Not a clue. Why would Naminé do this? Well, besides the fact that Sora detested Roxas. Hmm. Maybe that was the only reason. And now Roxas was feeling sort of bad for the brunet, who was edging him on with a wide-eyed look. To think that his best friend didn't even tell him she was dating…

"Because I've been with him!" The voice erupted from behind Roxas like a bubbly volcano. Well. It had not been him who let the cat out of the bag. He could be comforted at least by this fact.

Sora looked up at the cause of the voice, so Roxas pivoted in his seat to look as well. It was Naminé, seemingly just a bit angry as she glared both males down. Kairi stood behind her, stepping nervously from one foot to the other.

"Naminé…?" Sora said in more confusion.

"Sora," Naminé continued, taking a deep breath, "Roxas and I…"—long pause—"are dating."

Sora froze instantaneously. His deep blue eyes were wide as saucers. Usually Roxas would've taken this opportunity to laugh—"Ha, ha, Sora, you like an idiot!"—but he didn't. He still felt a little sympathetic towards the guy. But only a little.

"I know you don't approve," Naminé told Sora after waiting impatiently for him to say something, "and I'm sorry I hid this from you. But…I really care about Roxas…and I want you to respect that."

Sora said nothing. He was completely paralyzed at this point. Everyone stared, waiting with baited breath, for a few seconds, before it became apparent that Sora was not going to be speaking anytime soon. Finally Naminé leaned over to whisper in Roxas's ear.

"Can we go?" she pleaded, sounding a little frightened. All her courage had just been wasted on Sora.

"Are you sure?" Roxas whispered back, even though he wanted nothing more. "We haven't even eaten yet."

"Yes, I'm sure." She looked so nervous that Roxas succumbed to her. He stood up and smiled at everyone, even Sora.

"Okay, well, we'll be leaving," he said coolly. "Naminé's not feeling well and…I'm not very hungry, so we'll be departing. We'll see you around."

"Bye," Kairi remarked, waving weakly.

Sora said nothing.

**xXx**

Back at the Clarks' front steps, Naminé was regretting what she had said, or _how_ she had said it. She was covering her face with her hands and shaking her head furiously.

"I can't believe I did that!" she shouted. "What was I thinking? _Aah!_"

"Hey, hey," Roxas said, "Sora got what was coming to him. And at least he knows now. So either way you look at it, it's a win-win situation."

"You're not funny," Naminé snapped, peeking through her fingers to glare at him.

"Yes, I am," Roxas said, removing her hands from her face and holding them between them. "But Naminé, I thought what you did was really brave and really sweet and really, really…"

But Naminé never found out what else he thought about what she did because he leaned in and kissed her, lovingly and for a long time. Roxas was grinning inwardly because she tasted so…unbearably…

Sweet.

**HELLO AGAIN! This is…really tiring…death to all…science…peoples…blech. Ew, I think I'm going to throw up from all this corniness. At the same time, it probably makes all of **_**you**_** happy, with your fluffy minds of mere fluffiness for the act of being the fluffiest you can be. Whooo…I'm stttttaaaaaaarrrving. **

**By the way, Roxas and Naminé are supposed to be twenty-five. I am starting to reconsider that because they don't act like proper twenty-five year olds. Maybe if they were on **_**Friends**_**… **

**Anyway, I am…really, really tired…and really, really bored…and really, really hungry. So unless you have something for me to eat, don't come back expecting a new chapter. **

**Read and review!**

**(Yes, I am sane. Do not ask questions you don't want to know the answer to.) **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Kairi, etc.**

**Author's Note: I realize I haven't updated in, like, three months. But isn't the wait the best part? I mean, it's like Christmas really—when you're waiting it feels painful, but actually you're really excited, but when it actually arrives it's all over. So are you all feeling disappointed now? Do you want more suspense? Alright, I'll give you some suspense! (Laughs evilly)**

**Warning: This chapter makes no sense.**

**Quick Author Babble: I'm sittin' in my Lego house, I'm sittin' in my Lego chair, I'm watchin' my Lego TV in my Lego underwear…**

Chapter 14: Lonely No More

Sometimes, if you look at people—and I mean _really_ look at them—you can find out a lot of things about them that you wouldn't usually know. For example, if you look closely at a supposedly happy little girl skipping down the street, you could see tear tracks running down her cheeks, proving she had some sort of sadness recently. If you look at an old lady, stubborn enough that even though she's frail, she's doing everything by herself, her eyes would show hidden defeat, proving that really she had given up on this determination game awhile ago, and just didn't know what to do. Weaknesses can be the most obvious thing in a person's appearance, but we're either too thick-headed or ignorant to realize it.

Naminé had been thinking about that all night long. She couldn't sleep at all. She was thinking about that face that Sora had made at her when she was leaving. His cerulean eyes showed something so obvious, something so melancholic, she couldn't even label it under an emotion. He was disappointed in her. She was sure of that. But he looked like he was more hurt than disappointed. She had hurt her second best friend in the entire world. The thought made her want to die.

Why? Why was she feeling so guilty? Why was she this miserable? She had just gotten kissed by the best boyfriend in the world. She should've been happy. Ecstatic, even. But she wasn't. She sent out a silent apology to Roxas, wherever he was at the moment, for not feeling all tingly inside. It was really nice…really. She just didn't have the time to think about it. Her thoughts were too dark.

The blonde girl gave a final sweep to cinema four, wondering where everyone had gone. Demyx was incredibly late, and she had to cover for all his missed labor. The other teenage employees were always mysteriously in the "Employees Only" room. Leon was on "urgent business", and had been dealing with such importance for hours. Seriously, how urgent can it be when you're working in a movie theatre?

So this was how Naminé found herself stranded in an empty cinema with no one to talk to. Strangely enough, she was missing every single person who wasn't with her, even Demyx. Yes, the boy was a complete disaster, but at least he was nice to her and made pleasant conversation. She was longing to talk to Leon too. Though he was bossy, he always gave the best advice, and his gentleness broke through his hard demeanor. Without them, she was only left to her thoughts about Sora.

She shook her head. She was so pathetic. She needed fresh air to clear her head. She left the cinema and dumped her cleaning supplies outside the door. She moved towards the exit of the theatre.

"I'm taking my break!" she called over her shoulder to nobody at all.

Silence in response. Of course.

Naminé breathed out and exited her work place. The sky was a very clear azure. She stopped temporarily to look at it. It could be a complete disaster way down on the ground, but up in the sky it was always peaceful. Naminé wondered if the sky had always been hogging all the pureness for itself.

She walked slowly, her head still somewhere up in the clouds. Those fluffy, white clouds, moving so slowly and easily…she was jealous of them. She was so enraptured by this thought that she walked right into someone.

"Oof! Hey!" shouted a voice.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Naminé apologized quickly, her tongue moving faster than her head. "I wasn't paying attention…"

She stopped when she realized she was looking into two, very familiar violet eyes. A shock of electricity ran through her and she nearly fell backwards.

"Hey, Naminé," the red-haired girl said, smiling. "I was hoping to run into you."

Naminé, still in a paralyzed state, had to shake her head a couple times to respond.

"Oh…K-Kairi…" she stammered. "I d-didn't know…um…well, I thought…" She looked around, her head whipping back and forth so fast she felt a migraine coming on. "Aren't you…mad at me…because of…" She looked behind her _just_ to make sure. "…The _thing_?"

A crease of worry came upon Kairi's forehead. Her pretty smile was now fixed into a worried frown.

"Can you come with me for a sec?" she asked in a sort of hushed manner, as if she too could feel the formidable presence that had been hovering around Naminé all day. Naminé nodded mechanically. Some break this was turning out to be.

**xXx**

"I'm not mad at you."

Kairi broke it to her best friend in a very careful voice, as if any break in her sentence would cause the blonde to rupture like a bomb. Luckily, Naminé took it really well. She didn't even go into a state of shock, and her heart was still beating at normal tempo.

"Is that so?" she said, after breathing out slowly.

The redhead took a moment as if to consider, but then nodded. A small, friendly smile came across her lips. Naminé smiled back because her best friend was so beautiful and pure. But she still felt blue. Not all was right in the world. Not yet. She could tell.

Naminé curled up her legs and pivoted to face Kairi. Kairi looked away, staring off into the distance, her legs dangling uselessly off the bench they were sitting on. The summer heat was barely noticeable under the park trees. Sunlight shone through the green leaves, making patches of sparkles everywhere. Naminé willed herself to say something…anything. She had her best friend right where she wanted her. But there was something so fragile about this moment that it was hard to even move a muscle. There seemed to be a mutual feeling in the air that saying something would be meaningless. Naminé squeezed her eyes shut. She had so much she wanted to know. Staying silent would be stupid. Sometimes even peace was secondary.

"…And Sora?" The sentence was short and barely noticeable. Heck, it wasn't even a sentence. But there was no better way to put it.

There was silence for a few moments. Finally, Kairi released a breath and turned to look at the blonde.

"He's pretty mad," she replied. She stopped and seemed to ponder what to say next, but she changed her mind and decided that was all she _could_ say. Naminé glared at the sky as if Sora could see her.

"Why?" she muttered, more to herself than Kairi. "Why does he hate Roxas so much?"

Kairi turned to look sympathetically at Naminé, but she ignored her and let her eyes trail across each fluffy cloud trailing by almost painstakingly slowly in the sea of blue. Kairi reached out her hand and reluctantly patted her friend's entwined fingers. Her arm slowly recoiled as Naminé showed no reaction.

"You know," she said, startling Naminé by speaking, "Sora used to have a huge crush on you."

Naminé nearly fell right over. If she had been drinking something, it would've been sure to be a spit shot. She whipped around to stare wide-eyed at Kairi.

"What did you just say?" she demanded, her throat hoarse from the big lump growing in her throat.

"Sora liked you," Kairi repeated, confirming her greatest fears, "back in high school."

Naminé gagged. She couldn't control it. Something felt so _wrong_ about what was happening that she felt like she was in a nightmare. She looked at Kairi and suddenly she didn't look so pure and beautiful anymore. She looked tired and miserable, and when Naminé examined a little closer, she could see tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Kairi…" she murmured softly, almost comfortingly, moving a little closer to her, but the redhead remained still as a statue.

"He told me that once, you know." She sniffled slightly. "He said, 'Naminé's cute. Think she'd go out with me?' Those were his exact words. They've haunted me for too long. Just when I thought I'd forgotten it, this happens…" She put her head in her hands and looked down at the dry grass. "He only said it once before he started dating me, but…I wonder…"

She didn't finish her thought. Instead she examined her hands, now clenched into fists, with a sort of determined anger. Naminé had that feeling that people have when they're about to die—a sort of nauseated, scared feeling, like she was slowly sinking into the ground. Flashbacks of her and Sora in high school kept going through her head. When had this happened? For how long had he thought she was cute? Had he ever flirted with her? She never _had_ been that attentive…

"Kairi…" she said again, but this time her throat was so dry it was barely noticeable. Kairi rubbed at her eyes ferociously.

"I wonder…if…" Kairi sniffled, "those feelings are coming back…again…"

Something in Naminé exploded. It shook her up so much that she jumped right off the bench and grabbed a shocked Kairi's hands.

"Don't be stupid!" shouted the blonde, shaking her friend's hands so much that they both rattled. "Sora is crazy over you! Think about how many years you've been together! A swift comment about how I looked way back in high school is nothing compared to that! He's just mad because…because…you like Roxas so much!"

Kairi managed a chuckle. It sounded a little sour, but it was a lot better than sobbing. She looked at Naminé with watery eyes, and the blonde could hear her own heart thumping wildly in her chest. She ignored it stubbornly. She could have her panic attack later. Right now, Kairi came first.

"You know, Sora loves you more than anything," Naminé continued. "When we were getting along, all he talked about was you. It was always Kairi, Kairi, Kairi. You're his life. You, over all people, should know that."

Kairi laughed again. This time it was sincere.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I was just being melodramatic, I guess. I'm such a wuss." Naminé smiled and patted her on the back.

"No, you're not. Don't worry about it," she said. "I mean, what are friends for?" They smiled cheerfully at each other. They could both tell that there was a silent agreement that they'd never mention this again.

Just as they had started to feel comfortable, there was a blinding flash. Kairi let out a yelp of shock while Naminé tried to block the light from reaching her eyes. What was that? The bright light ceased to reveal a tall man hunched over with a giant, professional-looking camera in his hands. He had the spikiest, reddest hair Naminé had ever seen, and his electric green eyes were almost as bright as the flashes coming from his camera. He has a mischievous grin on his face that reminded Naminé of Roxas's, except much wider. The man was clad in a casual, tawny suit. A small notepad stuck out of the pocket of his jacket, and there was a pencil sitting comfortably behind his right ear. Naminé frowned.

"Hey, you!" she shouted at him, giving him a look to show she disapproved. "Are you a reporter?"

"Why, _no_, whatever gave you that idea?" the man said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the bluntness of the blonde.

Kairi crossed her arms and stood, her face completely stony as she walked up to the man. She jabbed him in the chest with her forefinger accusingly, looking positively venomous.

"Listen, you," she snapped, "I have no idea who you are or what the heck you're trying to do, but I'm telling you now, I've taken enough crap today, and Naminé sure as hell has too! So you know what I want you to do? I want you to go drag your sorry behind out of this park before that camera ends up in little pieces under my foot!"

The man looked a little startled, but as he continued looking into Kairi's ferocious face, he seemed to be a little amused. He gently pushed her away with a cocky expression.

"You actually think you're going to scare me?" he remarked, bemused, chuckling. "_Me_, who's fought his way through celebrities' bodyguards, throngs of die-hard fans, and super-elite V.I.P. parties? Besides, I'm not even here for you. I'm here for Blondie over there. Imagine what a scoop I'll get on Roxas Hernandez's girlfriend!"

Naminé straightened up as if suddenly hit by an electric shock. She hated when reporters used her to get closer to Roxas. She _especially_ hated this guy, with his impoliteness and his mischievous grin and his…his…spiky hair! She stood up filled with a defensive sort of rage.

"Who are you anyway?" she shouted a little too loudly. The reporter turned to look at her in surprise, as if he had never imagined such a big voice coming from such a small body.

"Well…" he said, quickly recollecting himself and flashing an irritating grin, "the name's Axel…Axel Davis. Here's my card." He chucked a well-aimed chunk of plastic at Naminé, which she caught sort of clumsily. "And since you seem to be wondering, yes, I am a reporter…the best of the best, you know. I've been covering Roxas ever since he was a mere fledgling to the movie business. You are looking upon the very epitome of modern day journalism."

"How modest of you," Naminé replied dully, "and what dead-beat magazine do you work for? Something slowly dying from all the criticism coming from the majority of the population?"

"Heck, no!" Axel exclaimed, actually flat out guffawing at this statement. "I'm the writing legend of the _Twilight Tabloid_!"

Naminé froze. She felt as if ice cubes had just been dumped down the back of her shirt. Her eyes widened with realization and her fingers twitched with pent-up frustration.

"Y…You…" she said through clenched teeth, "were you the one…who wrote all that stuff about me and Roxas?"

Axel smirked at her.

"Maybe," he replied. "What about it?"

"Do you understand what that did to me?! To him?!" Naminé was screeching now. "You make his life hell! You made _my_ life hell! You…you…JERK!!!"

Both redheads were looking at Naminé with wide eyes. The loud noise she was making was abnormal. The blonde was usually so much quieter than this. But this Axel guy was beyond ticking her off. She was on the verge of taking out a gun and shooting him.

"Humph," Axel grunted, smirking. "I can tell when it's my place to go. I'll see you around. Be sure to tell good ol' Roxy about me." He winked before quickly disappearing around a bend. Naminé stood there with clenched fists. Axel's card nearly snapped in half, she squeezed it so hard.

"What a moron," Kairi snorted. "Don't worry, Nam. Reporters like that follow me all the time. They're all talk, no action."

As Naminé stood there, glaring at the place where the spiky-haired man had been previously, she knew this one was different from the reporters that followed Kairi—this one was serious, and by the looks of it, he had been serious for quite awhile.

**xXx**

Naminé exited the quiet cinema nearly at midnight. Leon had vanished, still claiming it was "urgent business", Demyx called in sick with some stomach bug, and the other teenage employees had all decided to go throw a bowling party. At least it answered all of Naminé's questions as to where they had all disappeared at around midday. But she felt lonely—lonelier than usual. And her mind was troubled by thoughts of Sora and Axel and, most importantly, Roxas. She didn't even know why she was constantly pondering about Roxas, when she didn't even have any problems with him at the moment. He just somehow managed to worm his way into every situation, like what would he think if she told him about Sora's feelings? What would he do if she showed him Axel's card? What would happen if she just randomly called him up, saying she wanted him here because she was just so, so confused and depressed? But the more she thought about it the more pathetic she felt. She didn't need Roxas to deal with her problems. She had been just fine before he came along, is what she kept telling herself. She was getting too spoiled, wanting him twenty-four seven, getting him to support her all the time. She had her own sort of strength, so why wasn't she using it?

Naminé looked up at the night sky. It was dark—velvety, almost—with little specks of glimmering light peeking through it, the big, almost perfectly round moon outshining everything. It was really late. She should get home or her mother and Tidus will worry. But the more she thought about it, the more she didn't want to. She didn't want to go home and crumple up on her bed like always, sobbing enough to release all of her emotions and sadness in solitude. She wanted to be comforted. _She_—Naminé Clark—wanted to be supported for once…wanted to be aided somehow, someway. She didn't care if it was selfish, or stupid, or just downright ridiculous. She turned away from the direction of her house and walked on.

**xXx**

Naminé's finger quivered over the doorbell in a moment of reluctance, for she knew what she was doing was crazy. It was too late, too rude, too bold, too everything. It wasn't good to get into the habit of doing things like this. But she needed to. It was what her heart, pounding so anxiously in her chest, was telling her to do. She shut her eyes, squeezing the eyelids together so tightly it felt like they were going to rip in half, and pressed down on the button.

_Ding dong._

The melodic noise seemed so loud to her. It made her jump a foot in the air and look around nervously. Had the neighbors heard? Did anyone see her? She glanced up and down the street numerous times before finally settling back into an upright position.

The blonde closed her eyes, breathing out as quietly as possible, trying to hear what was happening behind the door without appearing too stalker-like. There was silence for a few seconds, then a click of someone switching on a light. She listened harder and could even time the pattern of the footsteps. This was her last chance to jump into the bushes and save her dignity. But her feet stood perfectly still, as if they were frozen.

The rattle of the doorknob, the creak of the wooden door moving on its rusty hinges—and suddenly, there he was, revealed, just as much as she was. His darkly-circled eyes were half-closed from fatigue, and they scanned her over with as much surprise as his tired brain would allow.

"Naminé?" he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes ferociously.

"Hey," she said, "we need to talk."

It was wrong, what she was doing, and she knew that. Wrong, wrong, wrong. But the more she thought about it, the farther away it seemed from being out of line. Her heart had calmed down some, and just like that, she knew she had made the right decision.

So what if she wouldn't go home tonight? It was all for the greater good. It was what was right. Everyone would understand…right?

Naminé stepped in and heard the door slam behind her, hiding both people from the rest of the world.

**Ooh…how's that for a cliffhanger? Who is she with, huh? Huh? HUH? Well, I suppose you wouldn't know. Heck, **_**I**_** don't even know! For all of our sakes, let's list our options. There's:**

**Roxas – Currently Naminé's boyfriend. He's really nice, really cool, and really hot.**

**Sora – Apparently had a crush on Naminé in high school. His feelings are **_**supposedly**_** showing themselves again. Also Kairi's, Naminé's best friend's, boyfriend. **

**Axel – The annoying reporter that has presumably been following Roxas around since his career first blossomed. Has a knack for ticking everyone off.**

**Okay, so three options. Who do **_**you**_** think best suits the plotline? Please tell me! For if you don't, then you'll be looking towards another three months' wait for the next update. **

**Read and review!**

**I see you later, yes? **


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Tidus, etc.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the unusually short chapter! I know I should have written more, but this chapter went really quickly and I couldn't deny it of its ending. Don't hate me! (Updates will come sooner next time, I swear!)**

**Warning: To the Mystery Machine!**

**Quick Author Babble: Umm…you know…this story's leading to nowhere. **

Chapter 15: The Disappearance

Roxas rolled over in his bed with a soft sigh. He was lost in the heavenly world of La-La Land, where all lived in peaceful unawareness. Roxas loved sleeping. He rarely got nightmares, and he completely forgot about the slight annoyances in his life such as the paparazzi, corny lines, and filming deadlines. But one particular morning, while the sun was still hiding behind the buildings of Twilight Town, the phone rang.

Roxas's home had the annoying tendency of echoing repeatedly and loudly whenever a single noise, no matter how small or insignificant it is, all over the mansion. So as the phone started trilling the annoying ring tone that—especially now that he was tired and wanted to get some rest—was obnoxiously loud. He considered ignoring it, but not picking up the phone always made him feel guilty.

He rolled over to the side of the bed that was closest to the telephone. He reached out a hand and picked up the phone, hitting the TALK button.

"Hello?" he mumbled groggily.

"Hey, perv, you've had your fun, now give me my sister back!"

Roxas blinked a few times before rubbing his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"What?" he questioned, then recognized the voice screaming at him. "Tidus, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me!" Tidus replied angrily. "Ah…it's no use talking to an idiot like you! Put Naminé on!"

"Tidus, it's…" Roxas gave a quick side glance at his alarm clock and tried to keep a calm voice, "five in the morning. Why would Naminé be at my house?"

"You tell me!" Tidus yelled. "Naminé never came back from work last night! Mom and I could only assume…"

Roxas sat up suddenly, all sleepiness leaving him.

"Wait," he said. "Did you just say that Naminé didn't come home last night?"

"Huh? You mean you didn't know?" There was a long pause. "So she's _not_ at your house?"

"No, she's not!" Roxas could feel his heartbeat quickening with fear and worry. His eyesight went blurry, and not just because it was earlier than he usually got up. "Do you understand what this means?! She could be anywhere! With anyone! She…she could be in serious danger!"

There was a long moment of silence. Roxas, finally getting infuriated, raised his voice.

"Well?!" he shouted. "Didn't you hear me?! _Your sister could be in trouble!_"

"Y-Yeah, loud and clear," Tidus stuttered, his voice quieter and less indignant than usual. "I-It's just…Naminé never disappears like this…I mean, when she did I just thought…that maybe she was staying over at your place…b-but now that I know she's not…"

Roxas sighed and proceeded to run his hand through his blond hair.

"Ti—" He was about to speak, but Tidus interrupted him.

"Our dad did the same thing, you know," the boy continued, his voice low. "He just disappeared one night…The next day, we found out he had gotten killed in a car crash. I don't remember much about him, but I'll never forget that day…Mom crying non-stop, Naminé doing all she could to console everyone. I honestly don't know what we'd do if anything happened to Naminé…" His voice died in his throat, and Roxas could hear sniffles through the receiver.

"Tidus, listen to me," he said slowly and forcefully. "You aren't going to lose her. We'll just start searching for her, okay? We'll phone around and go to her normal hangouts. We'll find her. Just…stay calm, alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Tidus replied. "Got it."

**xXx**

"So you _don't_ know where she is?" Roxas sighed, holding the phone to his ear as he spread peanut butter on his toast. It was six o'clock now, and fatigue was weighing down his eyelids until they were half closed. Big, dark circles were under his eyes, and his skin had an ugly, greyish tinge. His hair was an absolute mess…but that may be because he hadn't bothered to brush it this morning. He was lucky he didn't have to go onset today. His appearance at the moment was only suitable for a horror movie.

"No, I'm sorry," Kairi apologized. "Oh, dear, now I'm getting all riled up. Nammy never does things like this…"

"I know," Roxas said, releasing a heavy breath. He pressed his fist against his forehead. Sleepiness and worry were _not_ a good combination. "Well…do you have any idea? Perhaps a suggestion on who to call?"

"You could try phoning Sora," Kairi remarked. "I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon, so who he's been seeing is beyond me."

Roxas screwed up his face until he looked like some sort of mutant pig.

"I don't want to talk to _Sora_," he complained, extending the name as if it was something horribly disgusting.

"Roxas, is this really the time?" Kairi snapped, sounding exasperated. "Here, I'll give you his number. And if he doesn't know, then try calling Sunset Cinema in an hour or so. Try to get Leon on the phone. That's your best bet."

"Okay," Roxas muttered, sounding sour now that he knew he had to talk to Sora. "Thanks, Kairi."

**xXx**

Roxas listened carefully to every ring, feeling agitation bubble up inside.

_Come on! _He felt like screaming. _Get your lazy butt out of bed and answer the freaking phone already!_

"Hello?" a voice answered, sounding muffled and tired.

Roxas straightened himself quickly, as if someone had stuck a gun to the back of his head.

"Um…hey, Sora, it's Roxas," he said quickly, and before Sora could respond, he sped right along with it, getting to the point. "Do you know where Naminé is? I suppose you wouldn't since all you do is sleep. You know, only lazy people who have no goals in life sleep so much. Well, I guess that doesn't matter. All you need to know is Naminé's been missing since last night, and if you have any clue as to her whereabouts, then…"

"She's here." He said it so quietly and so fast that Roxas barely noticed until he backtracked and realized.

"What did you say?" he questioned, listening very closely.

"I said, she's here," he replied, "in my apartment. Listen…"

Before Sora could say anything else, Roxas hung up, feeling his heart beat fast and his nerves frazzle. What? _What?!_ Naminé was in Sora's apartment? He couldn't stop swearing as he changed into clothes that were appropriate to wear outside. He couldn't wrap his brain around it. He couldn't believe that Naminé had been in another guy's apartment…

_All night long._

That's all it took for him to boldly walk out the door to get his girlfriend back.

**xXx**

Roxas banged his fist against Sora's apartment door. Kairi stood beside him, looking like an emotional wreck, as if her brain couldn't decide between being angry, sad, or hysterical. Roxas was very sympathetic towards her. After all, they were in the same boat here. Since he didn't know the way to Sora's apartment, he had to ask Kairi for directions, and she made him tell her why he needed them. In the end, she persuaded him into letting her come along, so there they both were, trying to get their partners back. Turning to the door once more, which remained closed, Roxas made hard contact with the door until his knuckles felt like they were going to start bleeding at any moment. He started kicking and bashing and making a whole lot of cacophony before the brunet finally peeked his head out into the hallway.

"Would you mind _not_ breaking my door?" Sora snapped, obviously irritated. "Those don't come cheap, you know."

Roxas furiously pushed him aside, entering the average-sized—though admittedly nicely decorated—apartment. He looked around for a hint of the blonde girl, but there were none.

"Where's Naminé?!" he yelled, taking out all of his pent up frustration on Sora, who, he truly believed, was the main cause of the problem. "What did you do to her?!"

"Calm down, Roxas," Sora said soothingly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I…"

"Sora!" Kairi had been silent for long enough. She stormed into the room, tears in a mixture of rage and misery streaking down her face. "What were you thinking?! I don't even _want_ to know what happened between you and Naminé last night!"

"Well, I do!" Roxas interrupted, stepping closer to Sora. "What happened, Sora, huh?! What drove you to force an innocent girl into your apartment for your own personal enjoyment?!"

"L-Listen…" Sora sputtered, clearly not able to handle both of them at once.

"It's immoral to do things like this!" Kairi cried, stomping her foot on the ground. "Especially when both participants are dating someone else! You could've at least had the decency to break up with me first!"

"Yeah, or perhaps have phoned me so that I could've taken Naminé back home so her family wouldn't panic and think she was kidnapped or something?!" Roxas continued to shout.

"Honestly, Sora, you are so…"

"Are you always this much of an idiot?"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!!!" Sora screeched at the top of his lungs, so loud it felt like the floor shook.

Silence fell over the two. They stared at the brunet, whose blue eyes were glinting with annoyance.

"Naminé and I did nothing," he explained slowly, making every word clear. "Nothing like what you're thinking, anyway. She came to my apartment late at night, around midnight, and I was surprised because I wasn't expecting her. Then she started babbling on about me having feelings for her or something, so we sat and talked for awhile. After I explained that everything was all right, it was late…far too late for her to walk home by herself. So I let her stay over at my place. I figured her family already knew, because she agreed immediately."

Even though he was still mad at Sora, his words _did_ calm Roxas rather a lot. But he still wasn't quite satisfied.

"Alright, all-knowing oracle," he teased, making Sora cringe and make a face at him. "Since you appear to be so knowledgeable, where's Naminé, and why isn't she here?"

Sora opened his mouth as if to reply, but appeared to change his mind as he shut it tight again.

"…That's…confidential," he finally said, looking at his shoes. Roxas felt his fists clench. He fought the desire to punch Sora in the face.

"'Confidential'?!" he repeated, spitting out the words in disbelief. "'CONFIDENTIAL'??? Sora, that girl isn't at home, and her family's so worried, she might as well be considered MIA! And I'm her boyfriend! _I'm_ the one who should know where she is, not you! _Me!_ So if you don't tell me right now, I'm not responsible for whatever happens to you, got it?!"

He grabbed Sora's collar to make a point, bringing him close enough to his face so that he could see the determination in his eyes. He could feel a hand on his shoulder—Kairi's no doubt—very unconvincingly trying to get him to put the brunet down. Roxas had to hand it to Sora. He showed no fear whatsoever, and instead relinquished a sigh.

"Fine," he muttered. "But you better make this worth it, got it? If you do anything to upset her after I tell you, I swear I'll go and bring her right back."

Roxas snorted.

"You know, you're really not doing a good job of convincing us that nothing happened last night."

"Do you want to know or not?" Sora's voice was testy. Roxas put his hands in his pockets and leaned in to show he was listening. "She's at Axel's place. If that name doesn't sound familiar…"

A look of complete horror came over Roxas's face. Oh, that sounded familiar, alright.

"W…Wait a minute!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands. "She went to see _Axel_? Axel Davis?"

Sora nodded, looking a little sympathetic. Roxas frowned, then began to pace. He and Axel went way back…

**xXx**

A twenty-year-old Roxas exited Twilight Town Airport and looked around the busy parking lot. Buses crammed into each other, people dragging suitcases exited the building in throngs, and airplanes made a loud _whoosh_ sound from their metal wings cutting through air as they took to the sky. In the distance, he could see a whole assortment of buildings—tall, glassy ones, old, crumbly ones, colourful, homey ones, and entertainment-related ones galore.

A half hour later, he dropped off his stuff at his new apartment. It wasn't too shabby, he figured, for a celebrity wannabe. He left it quietly to his movie audition.

When he got there, there were lots of people sitting in a tight, crowded room with a tense atmosphere. The only available seats were one beside a suspicious, spiky-haired character wearing make-up and the one beside some sweaty guy. As Roxas debated over where to sit, the sweaty guy stuck his finger in his nose, and, pulling out a glob of green gook, proceeded to wipe it on the empty seat. Roxas gagged and quickly slid beside the weird guy. The guy looked up, revealing two shockingly bright, green eyes. He smiled almost encouragingly at Roxas.

"Hi," he greeted amiably. "You auditioning?"

Roxas nodded slowly, finding the question bizarre. Why else would people come here?

"Yeah. Aren't you?" he asked, his tone friendly so as not to sound rude.

"No, no," the red-haired guy replied, shaking his head and holding up a big, professional-looking camera that Roxas hadn't noticed before. "I work in journalism as a minor reporter for the _Twilight Tabloid_. You ever heard of it?"

"No, sorry, I don't know much about Twilight Town yet," Roxas remarked. "I just moved here."

"Ah. Well, it's this really popular magazine for celebrity gossip. I'm lucky to be in it at all. Sure, I'm not much right now, reporting on auditions and possible, yet extremely unlikely, upcoming stars, but one day I'll be a great, notable reporter, writing about the greatest celebrities."

Roxas raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. He knew what it meant to have what seemed like unreachable hopes and dreams.

"The name's Axel Davis," the red-haired guy continued, shaking Roxas's hand firmly. "What's yours?"

"Roxas Hernandez," the blond replied, smiling a little.

"Hmm…that's a pretty movie star-sounding name," Axel remarked, causing Roxas to outright laugh.

"You think so?" he said. "Personally, I think it's too long." It was true, after all—notable names should be short and sweet and easy to pronounce so that people can say it as much as they wanted.

"Long, but smooth. _'Hernandez'_…ra, cha, cha, cha!" Axel had said the name with an overly eccentric Spanish accent before breaking out into a dance. Roxas turned his gaze away, hoping that no one would think he knew the dancing fool beside him.

After a moment or so of Axel's little jig, he turned back to the blond with an excited smile on his face.

"Hey, Roxy," he said, bringing himself to Roxas's attention by bringing up a nickname that Roxas was very touchy about. He cringed and glared at Axel. He couldn't help it. It was automatic when someone called him anything remotely similar to a girl's name. "If and when you get famous, I'll write about you all the time, if you're okay with it. I don't want anyone else hogging the view of you in the limelight, because now, as far as everyone else is concerned, we're on a personal level." Roxas opened his mouth as if to reply, but Axel pressed on. "I mean sure, you can get an interview now and then with other people, but I want all the main events—all the turns in the big R's life, all the premieres, all the ritzy parties…"—He paused to wiggle his eyebrows—"All the _lovers_."

"Okay, listen," Roxas interrupted, feeling this had gone on long enough. "Sure, I have a shot at fame and fortune. So does everyone else here. Yeah, I have a nice name. I'm sure other people here do too. But there's no reason to believe—" Axel held his hand in front of his face to prevent him from talking any further.

"Roxas, I've checked through every single person's file here," Axel stated, lowering his voice to a murmur as his green eyes took a quick glance around the waiting room. "Out of all of them, you're the one who has the best shot…a great acting record, good looks, and a gazillion recommendations, let alone the stuff we already discussed. I got so intrigued that I watched your previous performances over the internet, and I must admit, I was impressed."

"So…you already knew who I was?" Roxas sputtered, almost too stunned to think straight. Axel nodded. "Then…what was the point of asking what my name was when you already knew everything about me?"

"To make pleasant conversation, of course," Axel replied coolly. "I didn't want to scare you off. I don't think you even understand how lucky I felt when you sat beside me. The opportunities I have now…to have officially claimed you as my writing topic…" Axel rubbed his hands together and laughed evilly. Roxas slid to the absolute edge of his seat to get as far away from him as possible. Before he could say anything in his own defence, a woman carrying a clipboard in one hand entered the room.

"Roxas Hernandez?" she called out. Roxas looked up, clearly disoriented from all the things that had been said to him.

"Eh?" he finally squeezed out from between his lips. The woman looked at him over her rhinestone glasses.

"It's your turn, sweetie," she said in a clearly false, sickly sweet voice. Roxas, shaken, nodded at her before glancing back at Axel, then quickly turning away when the redhead smiled maliciously at him. He stood up and walked into the audition room, feeling many pairs of eyes watching him, but paying special attention to the two, electric green ones locked on him.

**xXx**

"It's been awhile since I've had a real conversation with Axel," Roxas stated, staring at Sora and Kairi with intensity, "but I know he's been lurking. All those articles and pictures…all originated from him. He's the main reason for most of my stress. But Naminé never knew any of that. How could she have found out?"

He rubbed his chin and relinquished a thoughtful "hmm." There was silence for a moment, but then Kairi started moving uncomfortably.

"Umm…well…" she murmured quietly, but just loud enough for them to hear, "yesterday, Naminé and I were talking in the park, and…well…" Kairi shrank back from their urging stares. It was clear she didn't want to say anything on the topic, but she had no choice. "This Axel guy that you're talking about came up to us."

Roxas's eyes widened. Sora squinted skeptically.

"Are you sure it was him?" he asked. Kairi nodded.

"Positive," she replied. "He even told us his name was Axel. After saying everything that he had done to Roxas, Naminé got really mad and started yelling at him. Then he gave her his card and ran off."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" cried Roxas, totally losing all patience he might have had.

"I didn't think Naminé wanted me to tell anyone about it, so I didn't," Kairi explained, sounding apologetic. "Some things are better left private, you know…"

"Not _this_ thing!" Roxas yelled, starting to pace. "She got his number off the card, called him, asked for his address, walked over, and now she's doing who-knows-what over there!" The movie star stood there fuming for a second, and then he realized the significance of his words. "Oh, crap, I've got to get over there!"

He stormed out of the apartment, and out into the hallway, his feet going fast than his brain. His eyebrows were arched in anger and determination. Axel Davis had messed with him one too many times.

"Wait a second!" Sora called after him, sticking his head out the door. "Do you even know where the guy lives?"

"No, but I will!" Roxas shouted back. And that was an absolute promise.

**Yep. As I already told you, short, short, short. I know, I'm sorry. I'M SORRY, PEOPLE!!! (bursts into tears)**

**Okay, anyway…so the mystery has been solved, eh? I bet you guys weren't expecting what happened! Instead of using a separate option, I mashed all three together, so not only have you got Naminé with Sora, Roxas, **_**and**_** Axel, but you also have a dose of Tidus! Wahoo! (Tallying up the votes, the majority wanted Sora, which I found surprising, and the rest wanted Roxas, which was to be expected. No one wanted Axel. Seriously.)**

**Moving on. I've decided to make a collection of crack one-shots. It'll be titled "Fairytales", and will be random, probably never used before couples, and my first one will be a Xion x Tidus (Xiodus? Tidion? Who knows, right?). The second, I'm thinking, will be a Yuffie x Cid (Yid, decidedly). My only problem is where am I going to put it? On my perfect sorceress account or create a different account and put it there? If you are interested or have any ideas, please add notes to your reviews. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Read and review!**

**Happy summer time~!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own this video game, alright? If I did, I would own Square Enix, and if I owned Square Enix, I would be the happiest and richest person in the world. So shut up. **

**Author's Note: IT'S AN UPDATE!!! How amazing and rare and stunning is **_**that**_**? Well, it's pretty darn amazing and rare and stunning, if you ask me. Which you didn't. So pooh. It appears my writing has been drifting away form this story. I had to read it over to think of anything to write. It's really bugging me how nothing climactic has happened yet. I mean, I **_**love**_** melodrama in my stories, and this one is so plain and boring, it's like…it's like…ARGH! How is this my currently most reviewed story, exactly?**

**Warning: Some violence. But not a lot.**

**Quick Author Babble: These people are insane. Do **_**not **_**try this at home, kids.**

Chapter 16: Little Miss Innocent

Naminé stared into the electric green pools without moving. She and Axel glared at each other, daring the other to speak. Naminé could feel her heart beating fast. She didn't know what she was doing. She was angry at Axel for frustrating Roxas and being the cause of everyone's stress. At the same time, she just wanted to help Roxas for a change, instead of the other way around.

Axel's apartment was nice. Not Roxas's mansion nice, but all right. It had modern, colourful furniture, lively wall paint, and was rather spacious. Currently, Naminé was sitting on a soft, lime green couch that moulded to fit her form. Axel was sitting on a purple bean chair opposite to her. Their steely gazes locked and the silence closed in on them, Naminé was feeling quite nervous. Axel just looked amused. She was the girlfriend after all—hardly the real thing.

"Nammy, dearest," he cooed in a voice that sent shivers down her spine, "tell me why you're here so early. I mean, I'm a morning person, as you can tell, but still, it would be nice to know."

Naminé considered her words, then looked him right in the eye.

"How long?" she asked, her voice steady even though her hands were trembling fiercely. A half-smile passed over Axel's lips.

"How long what?" he questioned, clearly teasing her. Her face turned beet red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"You know what!" she shouted, losing her temper. "How long have you been carrying on with this Roxas gossip column of yours?!" Axel frowned and stood up, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Since before Roxas was a real celebrity," he said with his back to her, "five years ago."

Naminé gaped at him. This guy…for all of Roxas's acting career?! It was almost unbelievable! How could anyone be so loyal to a topic for so long?

"You're kidding," she stated, her mouth hanging open.

"No, really," he replied, turning back around and handing her a second glass of orange juice. "Roxas and I met when he was going for his first audition. Of course, back then I was just a minor reporter, just like how Roxas was a minor actor. Luckily, I'd done background research on all of the applying actors. Roxas was by far the most qualified, which, of course, led me to take a great interest in him."

Despite Axel being a serious pain in her rear end, she couldn't help but look at him in admiration. It was no wonder the redhead was such a big shot journalist now. He really took his job seriously, and it was kind of amazing about how successful his prediction was.

"So, what? Ever since then, you just hogged all the Roxas stories until you became the head of the whole enchilada?" she inquired, trying to keep her attitude in her voice even though it was failing.

"Precisely," Axel said, sitting down. "You may think I was a little overconfident on the whole thing, considering my whole career was depending on it, but one look at Roxas's file was all I needed. Heck, even a glance at Roxas himself is proof enough that teenage girls would go crazy over him. I was determined to keep his career under tabs until it grew too big for me alone to handle."

Naminé just looked at him. She wasn't sure what to say. She was a little irritated that she was so impressed with him. Axel noticed her scowl and turned to her.

"Listen, I'm sorry that your privacy was ruined due to me," he apologized not so convincingly, "but it's my job. I mean, you don't blame garbage men for too little recycling in the world. You don't blame dentists when you don't have enough toothpaste. And you shouldn't blame me for what's been said in magazines. Quite frankly, it's Roxas's fault for letting information leak to the media."

Naminé flushed an angry shade of red at this. At that moment, she hated Axel more than anything in the world. She wanted to rip off his smug, spiky-haired head and throw it out the window. She opened her mouth and let all her feelings spill out all over Axel.

"What do you mean, 'it's Roxas's fault'?!" she shouted. "Roxas can't hide from the media! He's freaking _huge_ in the movie business! And even if he did somehow find a way to avoid the paparazzi, tabloids like the one _you_ work for would just print made-up stuff!"

Axel sighed, putting his head in his hand and taking another sip of orange juice. "Jeez, _someone _woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Naminé let out a dangerous growl as she stood up and walked towards him, her face darkened with threat.

"I'll make sure you never wake up again, you obnoxious jerk!" she yelled, smashing a couch pillow violently in his face before storming out of the apartment. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to suffocate or not—either way, it was kind of a win-win.

As she slammed the door loudly behind her, a tall shadow glided over her. She looked up, eyes wide, to see Roxas, glaring down at her most venomously. His usually gorgeous, golden hair was all messy and stuck up in a toothbrush-like manner, his tanned skin was an unhealthy grey colour, and his beautiful blue eyes had dark circles around them. At first, she was slightly frightened by the dramatic change, but she had no time to mention it before Roxas grabbed her shoulders and shook her till her brain rattled in her skull.

"What…is _wrong _with you?!" he yelled, his fingertips digging into her shoulders painfully. "You disappeared the whole night without telling anyone? You idiot!"

"But Roxas, I…" Naminé began, stomach churning nervously at his uncharacteristically serious face. He pinched her nose and glowered at her.

"Shut up," he said, voice deepening. "I don't need to hear about your conservation with Axel. And I most _certainly_ don't want to listen to your little adventure with Sora last night. Your brother thinks your dead, your mom's probably getting sicker, and I need a good, long sleep. C'mon, I'm taking you home." He grabbed her by the arm and attempted to drag her off. She whacked him away and put her foot down stubbornly.

"Listen, Roxas. I wasn't planning to tell you about Sora, but this Axel guy is a real problem. I mean, he's been running practically every article written about you since the beginning of your acting career, especially the bad ones. If he's gone, there'll be no more stress for you or me! Why don't you just go and give him a good talking to? Or call his employer or sue or something?"

"Naminé, I'm not going to sue Axel," he remarked sullenly.

"What?! But, life'll be so much easier! And he's been stalking you since…"

"I already know all that, but there's no need to jump to such drastic actions. Ever heard of 'freedom of the press'? All published writers are guarded under that, and we, as law-abiding citizens, have to put up with it. Besides, if Axel quits or gets fired, someone maybe even worse will show up and take over. It's a constant cycle. Why do you think other celebrities haven't been able to stop gossip in the past? Everyone has difficult things they have to overcome in their jobs. Tabloids are a celebrity's."

Naminé stared at him, mad that he had given up years ago, and embarrassed at herself by realizing that she had been totally wrong. Roxas was right. She just didn't _want _him to be right. Naminé liked solutions for problems, not just ways to deal with them.

"I want you to be happy, Roxas," she said quietly, even though she was still kind of mad at him. There was no fight left in her. Not since she'd nearly suffocated Axel with a pillow.

He pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. "I _am_ happy, Naminé. I'm just not right now because you ran away from home." He paused before saying, "I'm going to kick Sora's ass."

Naminé pulled away, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Sora didn't do anything. You've got to stop beating on my friends."

"You've got jerk friends though," he muttered, his eye twitching. "That Sora, keeping you in his apartment all night long! How do you know he didn't drug you when you were sleeping and…"

"Roxas, stop!" she cried, barely hitting him before stumbling. She was quite tired, and she didn't want to discuss Sora. She considered her conversation with him last night. It had been an interesting one…

**xXx**

"Naminé? What are you doing here?" The brunet's eyes widened upon seeing the blonde girl at his door. He looked a little sleepy, but otherwise okay. She was the opposite. She felt too thin and small, her bones feeling unusually frail and her hair frizzy. She rubbed her hands against her arms to keep herself warm in the air-conditioned building. Twilight Town cooled down considerably at night.

"Well…I kind of need to talk to you." She started it off as awkwardly as possible. Sora sent her an odd look before nodding and gesturing for to come in. She followed him to a couch and noticed him watching her as she sat down. She was nervous and felt bad about not calling her family, but suddenly her priorities had gotten all mixed up and calling home was at the bottom of the list. "I'm surprised you're here," she continued. "I figured you'd be at Kairi's." Although Sora had his own apartment, he spent very little time actually living in it. Sometime soon, Kairi told her, they'd move in together and get into a more serious relationship. Naminé wondered if she and Roxas would ever be at that level. Probably not, with her mom and her brother depending on her. She couldn't just ask them to up and leave their house and bring them to Roxas's mansion. Besides, that was not a romantic atmosphere at all.

Sora shrugged. "I don't usually go over to Kairi's on my late work days. It's inconvenient to go over there, and besides, Kairi hates it when I'm in a bad mood." Naminé nodded. Shehated Sora when he was crabby as well, but she learned to deal with it. After all, friendship was mainly putting up with each other's faults. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh. Well…" She paused and took a deep breath in, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. "Kairi told me an interesting fact today." He leaned forward, intrigued. It just made her more nervous. "She said that…once upon a time…you…well…you had an interest in me." Sora's eyes widened, the whites in his eyes brightening his deep blue irises. He looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

"That was blunt," he remarked.

"Sorry." Her voice was no higher than a whisper.

"You don't have to apologize." He got up from the couch and walked over to the big, screen window that practically covered the whole wall. He stared out at the city lights for a moment before admitting, "Yes, it's true. Back in high school, I did have sort of a 'crush' on you."

"…Oh." She stared, feeling uneasy. She no longer wanted to speak, afraid of what she'd hear next.

Sora spoke for her. "But those feelings are gone now. I love Kairi, and Kairi only. I don't know what I'd do without her." That made Naminé smile a little. Her friends were so cute sometimes. "Although…" He paused and turned to face her. "I question your choice of boyfriend. If I got to choose who you'd date, it wouldn't be Roxas Hernandez."

She glared at him, offended. "Roxas is a _great_ guy, just so you know. He's sweet and outgoing and…"

"Superficial." Sora's eyes bored into her. She didn't like the feeling.

"That's not true!" she exclaimed angrily. She had never seen Roxas as superficial. He seemed so real to her, even though he was out-of-this-world wealthy.

"It _is_ true. All celebrities are superficial. That's why they have such professions in the first place instead of jobs that really matter. They don't save lives or build homes or grow food or even capture true beauty. They entertain people." He frowned, clearly disapprovingly, and disappeared into the kitchen. Naminé sat there for a moment, clenching her hands into fists, before racing after him in a rage.

"How can you say that?!" she shrieked, causing a very surprised Sora to turn around from his spot in front of the refrigerator. "Isn't Kairi a supermodel? How can you insult Roxas saying _he's_ superficial, when Kairi's profession is so much worse?!"

Sora's eyes met hers with such ferocity she nearly cried out an apology. "Kairi isn't made of plastic, Naminé. You should know that more than anyone."

"I do! I know I do! It's just…you judging people on their profession! How is that even possible? That's so…so hypocritical of you, Sora!" She dragged herself away from the kitchen, storming angrily towards the door, wanting full well to leave. She felt a hand grip her arm and she turned around, her gaze fierce.

"Wait a minute. I'm sorry, Naminé. Really sorry." Sora's voice was notably downhearted. She let her conscience get the better of her and turned around quietly to listen to him explain. "It's just…that _guy_. I mean, when I started going out with Kairi and getting to know you better, I always thought you'd be with someone…wholesome. Someone kind and thoughtful and who would take care of you. Roxas…you think he'll do that? You think he'll have the time and patience to treat you nicely? Besides, that guy could get a girl anytime he wants. He's _Roxas Hernandez_, for Pete's sake. I'd bet he could snatch Kairi away from me in a second, and we've been dating forever."

She looked at him worriedly. The way he was speaking made her feel as if she was being scolded, and he seemed more concerned for himself than for her.

"You're worried because of Kairi's obsession with him," she said flatly. "So the truth comes out."

He looked at her. "So what if I am? That still doesn't change the fact that he's scum. He doesn't deserve you, Naminé. You're smart, sweet, and pretty. Get a _real _guy, for Pete's sake."

"Stop avoiding the subject!" Her voice was suddenly loud—louder than she'd wanted it to be. "Don't keep barging into my life because you're uncertain with yours! Don't you understand that you and Kairi are perfectly happy together? You two have everything that I'm jealous of!"

Sora let out a sigh and turned to face the window. Her angry expression warped into dread as the minutes of silence passed.

"Unless…you're not happy."

**xXx**

Naminé looked up at her partner, her pale blue eyes suddenly coated in a watery sheen. Roxas looked a little freaked out at first as he noticed her sadness, but he relaxed and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder.

"Are you sure you're happy with me, Roxas?" she whispered. The words he might say made her heart pound as loudly as possible. The young man paused, then started scratching his chin and putting up one eyebrow.

"Hmm…now that you mention it…" he said, his voice teasing. Naminé whacked him on the arm.

"Always joking," she sighed, a little cheerfully at the very Roxas-like behaviour. She was caught off-guard as she was suddenly pulled into his arms once again. She could smell a very faint cologne scent wafting from him, with him being suddenly so close to her.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear. "Don't doubt it for a second." The words at first made her go into a panic. Blood rushed to her face, her hair practically stood on end, and she did all she could to refrain from flailing her arms around. It was the first time a boy had ever said anything like that to her before—well, besides her father, who didn't count. She let out a breath, then another one, her heart slowing little by little. But her mind wouldn't stop racing, and her tongue refused to move, so all she could do was stand there, paralyzed.

"Aw, how sweet!" an annoying, familiar voice trilled in her ears. Roxas dropped her immediately and whipped his head around, grinding his teeth. His expression was one she had never seen on him before—pure anger. It gave her chills.

"Axel," he said, his tone deepening and his eyelids lowering dangerously.

The red-haired man's eyes glinted with mischief. Naminé found that frightening as well. Although Roxas said he had come to peace with the Axel situation, this didn't look like a calm encounter at all.

"You know, Roxas, I'm surprised," Axel remarked, a smirk playing at his lips. "Making your confession right outside of a reporter's house. Very tactless of you."

Roxas smiled darkly in return. "That's true, especially when it belongs to slime like you." Axel lowered his head a little. Roxas stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying to look relaxed.

"Rox—" Naminé began, confused by his attack. This did not look fine to her, and Roxas most certainly didn't look happy.

Axel cut across her before she could finish. "Tsk, tsk. Easily provoked as always, Roxy. But I'll ignore that for now. My reporter senses are tingling." Great, ripping off Spiderman now. Naminé sighed. This was just getting embarrassing. "So, what's this I hear? Naminé slept over at another man's house? Not to sound cliché reporter or anything, but what are your thoughts on that?" He took out a notepad and pen from his pocket and started scribbling down something. Roxas immediately wrenched it from his grasp and started tearing it apart.

"I swear…to God…Axel!" he snapped between rips. The scratchy sound the paper made when it was ripped apart echoed in the apartment hallway. Naminé covered her ears at the horrible noise. When satisfied, Roxas dropped the shreds on the ground. Axel glanced at it and shrugged.

"A shame to kill trees in such a wasteful way," Axel said, then he looked up at the couple with a beaming smile, "but don't worry…there's more where that came from!"

Roxas let out a horrible battle cry and smashed Axel against the door. Naminé's eyes widened with shock at the abrupt act and she tugged on Roxas's arm desperately to get him off the squashed reporter. Why the hell was this so difficult?! Had Roxas been working out?

"Stop grinning at me like that, you bastard!" Roxas yelled, slamming the spiky-haired man against the hard wood another time as if to get his point across.

"Roxas, what is this?! I thought you said everything was fine! Let go of him! Roxas, come on!" Naminé cried in vain as the blond threw all his anger at the apparently weaker human being. She pulled harder at him. Roxas's grip started loosening, but it wasn't enough.

"Little Miss Innocent, are you, Blondie?" gasped Axel from behind Roxas, looking directly at Naminé as she fought to get her boyfriend off of the foolish reporter. "Is that how you like to fancy yourself, even after you could've done anything at that guy's apartment?"

It was about that moment when Roxas completely lost control of himself and punched Axel in the face. There was a horrible crunch sound, and Axel slid down to the floor, looking like he was on the brink of unconsciousness. Naminé didn't attempt to stop Roxas. She could've blamed it on the shock, but…

She stared down at Axel down with nothing but pure hate in her eyes. "Little Miss Innocent", huh?

"Can't believe this guy…" muttered Roxas under his breath, doing the cool little wipe of the chin with his sleeve, which he usually did after action scenes in his movies. He turned to Naminé with an apologetic little smile and shrugged. "Well, he's a little psychotic all right, but he could be much worse."

"Like how?" Naminé asked, stepping over Axel's limp legs to join Roxas.

"Like he could he could be a black belt in karate or something," Roxas chuckled, taking her arm in his and strolling away. Naminé kept up with him but her mind wandered elsewhere as the blond chattered. She couldn't get over what Axel had said about her. She was not innocent, but she wasn't exactly guilty either…It was hard to explain.

**xXx**

"Kairi isn't serious about me." Sora meandered toward the sofa before sitting down, sinking into the cushions. Naminé quickly followed suit, collapsing in a seat, staring at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean by that? Of course she is! She talks about you all the time, and you're always together, and you're always happy and stuff…" She stood up for her friend because it felt like the right thing to do. Besides, Sora was making a lot of false accusations tonight.

"That may be," he replied with a nod, "but…Kairi never wants to take a step up. She doesn't want responsibility in our relationship. Whenever I bring up anything at all, like maybe finally moving in together since I spend more time at her place anyways, she gets this look of absolute terror on her face and says, 'Can we not talk about this now?' The seven words of death. She uses them all the time. She wants no commitment whatsoever. But I can't just go off that. Like, an eight year long fling? I don't think so."

"…Oh." Naminé sent him a look of complete sympathy. Sadly enough, it was true—Kairi had never been the most mature, and she could never handle her responsibilities. Finally she got to the point where she just didn't promise to keep them anymore.

He paused. "I love Kairi," he said finally, "but she attempts to distract me whenever I tell her that. I pretend to forget just to make her happy, but…" He put his head in his hands. "We can't go on like this forever. By the time she'll finally tell me she's ready, I'll be an old geezer."

Naminé considered these words for awhile before getting up and sitting on the couch beside him, giving him a one-armed squeeze.

"Poor Sora," she sighed, ruffling his spiky hair.

"Yeah, poor Sora," he agreed, and then he looked away like he just couldn't handle it anymore. She sighed and patted him on the back. He turned back around to face her, his blue eyes a little cloudy. She stared into them, feeling his depression travel from him to her, and was totally unprepared when he suddenly leaned in and kissed her. It was nothing big, like making out or whatever, but it lasted longer than what was comfortable for either party, and he quickly pulled away.

Naminé could feel her heart beating a mile a minute. Not because she was in love or anything like that, but because she was absolutely _horrified_.

"Well?" he said, looking at her expectantly. She let out a high-pitched squeak in response, but her face must have shown her bewilderment, because Sora then sighed and elaborated, "Do you feel anything?"

"Shock. Horror. Dismay," she said quickly. A picture of Roxas flashed in her mind, and it just made her feel more nauseous than before.

He sighed. "I thought so."

"W-What do you mean you _thought_ so?!" she shouted, her voice suddenly at top volume. "Are you sure you're _thinking_ at all?! Why did you that?! K-Kairi! Roxas!"

He smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry, sorry. I was just checking if I made the right choice back in high school."

**xXx**

Naminé squeezed Roxas's arm a little tighter. The blond couple walked slowly under the dusty blue sky of a typical Twilight Town morning. She wondered if what had happened was significant at all to anything anymore. But she was definitely not innocent. Axel's words felt like a knife through her heart.

"I'm taking you home, by the way," Roxas said coolly, and bent his head down to look at her. "Your brother sounded like he was having a heart attack when he called me."

"Oh!" she cried, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Tidus! I completely forgot! Oh, my mother must be absolutely terrified right now…" She groaned at her own stupidity. It sometimes baffled her at how idiotic she could be.

"Don't worry," he responded, his voice caring and sympathetic. "You head back, apologize, and everything will be okay."

She nodded, trembling slightly, thinking of the worst possible situations, as Roxas did his best to comfort her. Naminé's imagination went wild, and by the time she got home she was in the worst of states. Roxas cautiously led his girlfriend up the walkway and peered through the door.

"Hey! Guess who's back?" he exclaimed cheerfully, but silence met the couple's ears. His head flipped around in all directions in confusion. "Eh? They're not here."

Naminé pushed past him and barged her way into the house. "What do you mean they're not here? Tidus! Mom! I'm home!" She suppressed a scream and ran upstairs. Worst case scenario: She didn't even want to think about it. "Mom?" She ran into her mother's bedroom, where the woman rarely was. "Tidus?" She peeked into her brother's bedroom, which was messy and smelled rank from some uneaten snack. She felt a heart attack coming on.

"They're not in the living room or the kitchen!" Roxas called from downstairs. There was a certain amount of alarm in his voice too. Naminé raced down the staircase, her face an absolute mess of red splotches and tears from worry. Then, just as she felt like she should go encounter Roxas in the kitchen, she collapsed on the second stair and cried. Why had she been so stupid? She was becoming sloppy with everything—her work, her family, her friends…her entire life, for Pete's sake! Now she was getting punished for it. It was karma. "There's a note!" Roxas cried suddenly, and that prompted her to stand up and clean up her face with her left forearm before walking into the shabby kitchen. Roxas was staring at the face of the refrigerator, which had a very apparent yellow sticky note on it. Naminé ripped it off promptly and held it up to the light where she could see it perfectly, attempting to swallow the big lump that was in her throat.

It was Tidus's writing.

**xXx**

"Sorry, sorry. I was just checking if I made the right choice in high school."

Sora sent a smile her way. She didn't know if she should slap him or scream at him. She did neither. She croaked out a sound that resembled a "what" instead. Sora sighed and put his head on the couch.

"Obviously, Kairi is right for me. She just doesn't notice. And if she does, she sure doesn't care." He put his feet up on the gleaming glass table and closed his eyes. Naminé glanced at him before shaking her head.

"You just don't realize how lucky you are, Sora," she said.

He opened a single blue eye to glare at her.

"And you're not? You're dating a celebrity, you have a supermodel best friend, your employer acts like he's your father, and all your burdens have seemed to decrease, especially money-wise."

She stared at him for awhile before breaking into a smile.

"Maybe you're right," she remarked thoughtfully. "Things seem to be getting better."

**GUESS WHAT? I have a Fiction Press account that I am now advertising! (Sorry, Silver Clock, I had to do it…) I'm writing about stuff that is all my own, so no, unfortunately, it is **_**not **_**Kingdom Hearts. But check it out! Go to my author's page for more information.**

**Now then. This story is **_**so **_**boring. So I am making it interesting, for both your benefit and mine. Deal with it. **

**And sorry, Axel fans!!! I don't know exactly what I was thinking, letting them leave him in the hallway like that, but it had to be done. This is probably not the last you'll hear of Axel, but this is the most you're going to get from now on. So…just…sorry.**

**Read and review! Please?**

**Happy late Halloween!!!!!!!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Tidus, etc.**

**Author's Note: Holy mother of all things Kingdom Hearts, it's an UPDATE! Can you believe it? Yeah, no big deal, I just missed…a whole…three…units…of math homework…to write it. (Cough, cough) Anyway, I hope you like it! It's quite depressing, but I hope you appreciate it, 'cause…this took me awhile. (Sticks out tongue)**

**Warning: Swearing, graphic scenes, and dramatic content.**

**Quick Author Babble: O. M. G!!!!! …That's so annoying.**

Chapter 17: Weak

Roxas stood beside Naminé, trying his best to get a glimpse at the sticky note she was currently reading. But the writing was too messy to read from an angle, and when he'd finally thought he'd figured out the first word, the paper was clenched in the young woman's fist. He looked up at Naminé, already able to tell that the news was bad, to discover that she was trembling.

"Naminé?" he said slowly, carefully, so as not to upset her. "What's wrong?"

She didn't look at him. Slowly she reached up with her hand to cover her mouth and released a hiccough, then burst into tears. The dramatic reaction freaked him out.

"Naminé! What is it? What happened?" He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He had already guessed what was happening, but he wouldn't allow himself to believe it. He wanted to be wrong. He _had_ to be wrong. She looked at him; her pale eyes were distorted by water, and when she shook her head, it was as if she was telling him that she couldn't speak. It was too horrible to tell. Then, just like that, she ran out of the house, abandoning the crushed note on the floor. He let out a startled call at her sudden exit, but didn't chase after her. His gaze drifted towards the sad little paper lying on the floor.

He gulped back his nervousness. He tried not to picture Naminé or her mother as he leaned down and picked it up. Concentrating on the words was somehow very difficult, and not just because of the poor penmanship.

_Naminé: _

_Mom suddenly started coughing up a lot of blood and couldn't breathe. I called 911 and we're taking an ambulance to the hospital. Please come as soon as you get this._

_Tidus_

Roxas felt very sick. The note was brief, but the creation of it had obviously been rushed and panicked. Such news was never meant to be delivered on such a mediocre thing as a sticky note. He slammed it against the fridge and ran after her. He already knew where she was headed, but he wondered if she would ever get there in good shape.

**xXx**

He hadn't run into her until the very last minute, right in front of the hospital. She was bawling into her arm, her chest heaving with each intake of breath. Passers-by were looking at her oddly, probably wondering if she had escaped from the mental illness department. He raced over to her, even though he had no idea what to do in this situation. He touched her shoulder gently and could feel each time she shook.

"Naminé…" he said. He realized his tone of voice wasn't helping, but he was also really depressed. She wasn't looking at him, but he didn't blame her.

"I'm really scared," she gasped finally. "I-I don't want to go in. I don't want to know."

"I know you don't," he remarked. He found himself automatically massaging her shoulders. It was therapy for him as well. "But you can't leave your brother alone in there." He made sure his tone was as soft as possible.

She sniffled, then nodded, wiping at her eyes and clearing her throat. She looked up at him and put on a brave smile. At Roxas's surprised look, she said, "I don't want to worry him."

They made their way through the glass doors. Roxas couldn't remember the last time he had been this frightened. That woman—Naminé looked so much like her, it was like they had already met when they first talked. He remembered the way she had smiled while she told him she had lung cancer, and then the deep regret she had shown while telling him her children's history. He'd only had a full conversation with her once, but there was something about her that made him instinctively care about her. He couldn't quite explain it.

He seemed to tune out of the world for a second; he could see Naminé talking to the nurse as cheerfully as she could and felt nausea swirl around in his stomach. He'd never been to a hospital before, only the doctor's office, and as he watched emergency patients bleeding and vomiting as they were dragged by worried nurses and relatives, he could feel his face turning green. He must've made a slight gagging noise or something, because Naminé was suddenly looking at him worriedly.

"Roxas? Are you okay?"

"Ah…" This was not the time to be concerned about his welfare. "Yeah. I'm fine." He coughed a few times, trying to get out whatever issues that were going on in his system. "Where are we headed?"

Naminé smiled wanly at him. "This way."

Roxas tried not to look at anything else but Naminé as they continued through the building. There was something heavy weighing down on him, and he was certain that if he saw anymore tragedies, he would end up upchucking all over the clean, white floor.

**xXx**

They found Tidus sitting out in the hallway by himself. His face was buried in his tanned arm, which looked, actually, much paler, and his dirty blond hair fell to cover any expression he might've shown. A nurse was standing in front of him. She was touching his shoulder, telling him something quietly, sympathetically, that Roxas could not hear. The creepy atmosphere in the hallway was immediately broken as Tidus slapped her arm away, looking up at the nurse with angry, red-veined eyes.

"I GET IT, OKAY?! JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" His voice was scary, loud, angry—everyone in the hallway jumped back except for the nurse, who just nodded her head sadly before departing. Roxas could tell this wasn't the agitation he had gotten from Tidus on earlier meetings which he had declared the fault of puberty and teenage angst. The bellowing echoed repeatedly in the endless white, filled with an almost wavering of tone. The boy's clenched jaw started shaking, his eyelids fluttering, like he was going to burst into tears any minute. But—Roxas was quite impressed—he didn't, and instead released a sigh and put his head in his hand, as if he was suffering from a headache and not trauma.

Naminé seemed to be moving in slow motion as she walked up to her younger brother. "Don't yell at people, Tidus." She said it quietly, as if she knew it was a pointless thing to say. The teenage boy looked up at his sister with tired blue eyes.

"Naminé, where the _hell_ have you been?" Roxas couldn't tell if Tidus was frustrated, relieved, or frightened as he said this—probably a mixture of all.

"That doesn't matter." She breezed right by this question like she had with all of Roxas's and sat down beside him on the floor. "Now tell me what happened."

Tidus literally exploded at this question. "I don't know what happened! Do I _look _like I know what happened?! All I remember was that one second she was sleeping, and the next she was coughing up blood! What the _hell_ do you want me to tell you, Naminé?! The gory details?! It's not like…like…" He smashed his fist into his forehead. The slapping noise was loud, almost gruesome. Roxas, from his safe standpoint at least three metres away, winced. "Dammit! Where _were _you?!"

And then he lost all control, his supposed dignity completely lost as he burst into tears, like the bruise on his skull had triggered some sort of waterfall. Naminé, as if she was expecting this to happen, draped a thin, pale arm around his shoulders, and bent him low enough so that his head was in the crook of her neck. There was something so motherly about the blonde girl right at that moment, that Roxas had forgotten they were siblings.

"You did good, Ti," she said quietly. Tidus nodded, and suddenly, embarrassed by the contact, quickly sat up, rubbing at his eyes with his knuckles and looking around at all the people who had possibly witnessed the scene.

"Are you kidding? I did effing awesome." The two laughed, weakly, a small moment of peace in all the drama. Roxas, meanwhile, was feeling really touched. It was like he had been washed over with a wave of sensitivity that had never reached him before. He casually wiped at his eyes, making it look like he was sleepy and not emotional, before striding over to the two family members with more ease than before.

"Hey," he said in acknowledgement to Tidus. The teenager did not glare, but he didn't smile either. He just kind of nodded like you would when passing an acquaintance on the street. "We should talk to the doctor, look at your mother, y'know?" He was looking at Naminé when he said this, but Tidus got up first.

"I'll take you to the room," he offered, and when Roxas nodded somewhat stoically, he glanced over at Naminé once more, just in case. She looked smaller than usual—paler too. Her eyes were glazed over with this film that could've been tears or fatigue. His stomach started twisting horribly and he instinctively ran a hand through his hair, wincing as one of his fingers got caught in a knot and pain shot through his scalp.

"Naminé," he said, making his tone as gentle possible, "you coming?"

She nodded and looked up, smiling a little at him, and he couldn't tell if it was for his benefit or hers. It made him feel worse, looking at that clearly forced expression, but there was nothing he could do.

Roxas Hernandez had never, in his entire life, felt so helpless before.

Life was not easy, he realized then.

Not at all.

**xXx**

Roxas did not look at Mrs. Clark when he entered the room. His gaze followed his shoes, then the floor, then out the window. He was trying his best to avoid seeing the clearly sad scene in front of him. He didn't want to know what shape she was in. He didn't want to see her offspring crying over her. He didn't want her to talk to him, tell him everything was all right, and be asked pointless, conversational questions that had nothing to do with the situation.

He didn't want to go through that.

It may have been selfish, but he couldn't deny it. He was in no place to do anything anyways. He could hear perfectly fine, though, the rattling breaths of both mother and daughter, and then the tiny wail of "Mom…" He pressed a fist to his forehead and felt his hands get all clammy. This was wrong. He felt like he wasn't even there, like any second he was going to wake up and find that it was a nightmare, the worst one he had ever gotten, and forget about it in fifteen minutes.

"Roxas, dear, there's no need to be scared."

"I'm not scared." Terrifiedwas more like it.

"Come, come. My kids need you here."

The blond turned. He took a sharp intake of breath, and then let a comforting smile pull at his lips. The woman before him resembled a sponge that had been completely drained of all water. She was small, more wrinkled, white as a sheet—her breathing was raspy, her voice hoarse, her eyes dull with a foggy sheen.

"Roxas," she said, and she smiled with thin, dry lips. The voice suddenly seemed so small that the name no longer held any meaning. "How are you?"

Roxas stared at her for a second, then around the room. He could see needles stacked on the shelf and a bag of blood hanging from a metal stand. The lights gave everything a dizzying, artificial glow. Everyone suddenly looked like they had a green complexion. It was cold and silent and every time he looked over at Mrs. Clark he felt a cold wave go up his spine. He didn't know when or how it happened, but suddenly his stomach gave a lurch and seemed to flip upside down. He instinctively put his hand over his mouth and felt something lunge in his throat.

"Ugh," he said, both relieved and a little worried that nothing had come out.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Naminé's hand was suddenly on his back, her blue eyes looking into his.

"Yeah…yeah, I think I just…" He didn't want to say the word "gagged" because it seemed very disrespectful. Besides, no one should've been worrying about him right then. He waved his hand and thumped himself on the chest, provoking a cough. "I'm fine."

"Looks like someone can't handle the pressure," Mrs. Clark joked in what would've been a sing-song voice if it hadn't been so raspy. Tidus laughed a little.

"Sissy," he added. "Well, this is what comes from men acting."

"Tidus, that's rude," Mrs. Clark said, but she was soon choking out wheezy, short chuckles. Roxas wasn't exactly appreciating the fact that his profession was the topic of entertainment in this conversation, but somehow seeing mother and son having a moment made it all worth it. He felt a hand squeeze his arm and he looked over at Naminé, who was smiling peacefully as well.

"Tidus is Mom's best medicine," she stated softly, just loudly enough for only him to hear. He ran a hand through the bottom of her long, golden hair.

"I bet you come in close second," he remarked, and for a moment everyone just stood there smiling at each other. It was a moment of complete peace and love and suddenly the hospital room seemed a lot warmer to Roxas.

But, deep down, everyone knew it was just the calm before the storm.

And then the world would fall down again.

**xXx**

It was about two hours later that it happened.

Now, nobody could say it was an unexpected event that took place, but it was most certainly a shock for poor Roxas, who was just now seeing what it was like for other people in the real world.

The doctor had come in, shared with him and the Clark family and speech that contained what must've been the longest words in the dictionary, and then took Naminé and Roxas out into the hall to tell them that Mrs. Clark was most likely not going to make it.

"She was left untreated for far too long. It's a miracle that she lived to this day," he explained. Naminé put her hands over her mouth and released a choking sound.

"Are you saying…t-that my mother's going to die sometime this month?" she asked. Her voice was shaky, and something about the words made the whole prospect of it real to Roxas.

"I'd be surprised if she made it past the next twenty-four hours," the doctor replied. His voice was so neutral and uncaring that Roxas wanted to punch a hole through his face. "I'm so sorry." Naminé looked at the doctor, then at Roxas, then at the floor, then the ceiling. She looked so lost in her own emotions that Roxas felt his own heart starting to hammer against his chest.

"There must be something you can do," Roxas said, his voice very forceful. "There has to be something that can increase her chances!"

"Yes, but they're all very expensive procedures, and—"

"That doesn't matter! I can pay! Just…just do something!"

Adrenaline ran through his entire body. He was starting to twitch but the doctor just shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I won't do such a thing. The chances would hardly be raised at all, and it would probably just kill her faster. It would be like throwing your money out the window." He looked at Roxas. There was some sympathy in there somewhere but Roxas no longer cared about that. He hated this doctor and his morals were too messed up.

"Money doesn't—!" Roxas was fully ready to give the doctor a piece of his mind when he felt a shaky hand on his shoulder.

"Roxas, please stop. We have to trust the doctor in these things." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, and he started realizing that her hand wasn't the thing that was trembling—it was him and his cold and his anger and his sadness, not to mention his fright, all rolled up into one, big mess. He bit his lip hard and could taste the rusty flavour of blood on his tongue, and the doctor left and Naminé turned to walk back inside, but Roxas ran down the hall and into the men's washroom where he burst into a stall and threw up.

After a few moments of intense vomiting and dizziness, Roxas stood back up and with an almost misplaced formality, brushed himself off and coughed a few times before flushing the toilet. There was now a stench and the normal swirling of the stomach after one becomes sick all over the bathroom, and that didn't make Roxas feel any better.

He felt odd now, and a little empty, as if he had just relieved himself of all emotion. He looked into the toilet with distaste, wondering if he had thrown his heart or brain up along with what felt like all his stomach bile. Roxas Hernandez never got sick. It was a completely new experience to him, and bewilderment soon took over his distress. As he exited the stall, he nearly walked right over the teenage boy standing, arms crossed, in front of him.

"You okay?" Tidus asked, and Roxas started feeling ashamed of his fit.

"Yeah, I'm fine." With a gentle nudge, he pushed Tidus aside so that he could make his way towards the sink. He watched as his reflection approached the mirror. His eyes were so sunken in they looked like they were going to fall out of his head, and his hair did not look soft and fluffy. It was barely blond anymore. He was a walking zombie.

"You look like shit," Tidus snorted behind him as if to prove this point, and Roxas shook his head and splashed his face with cold water.

"Kids shouldn't swear," he said, and grabbed a paper towel on his way out.

**xXx**

"Roxas, are you okay?" Naminé ran towards him as soon as he entered the hallway, and he had to blink a few times to clear his suddenly teary-eyed vision.

"Yeah, I'm—" He was fully ready to throw out an excuse along with a pearly white smile, but Naminé cut across him.

"Oh God, oh God," she muttered frantically, her voice high-pitched and panicky. She grabbed at her own hair, yanking at it so hard it was in danger of coming out in clumps. "I should've never dragged you into this. Oh God." Her breathing was suddenly heavy, loud, and faster than usual. It kept getting wheezier and Roxas started to panic himself.

"Naminé, calm down. Just clam down. I'm fine, see? I'm fine." He dragged her over to the bench Tidus had been sitting on earlier and made her sit down. She gasped and puffed and wailed into her hands. "Naminé, you have to breathe slowly. Come on, easy, easy." But the blonde girl seemed to be stubborn in her panic attack, and when Tidus came out of the bathroom and saw the situation he called over a nurse, who took out the kind of sick bag they had on airplanes and told her to breath in a timely fashion into the bag.

"Will she be okay?" Roxas watched the paper bag inflate and deflate constantly and wondered what kind of treatment this was.

"She's just hyperventilating," said the nurse, then she turned to the blonde girl. "Just relax and you'll be fine."

Naminé nodded. After a few seconds of breathing in and out, she turned to the two males standing next to her.

"What now?" she asked.

"_You'll_ stay right here and take a moment to calm down," Roxas ordered. "Tidus, you should probably go in to see your mom."

Tidus seemed positively struck by this command. He looked at Roxas and there was a moment of silent conversation between the two, Roxas's eyes urging him to go. Tidus finally released a rattled breath and walked into the hospital room. Roxas placed an arm over Naminé's shoulders. There was a few moments of complete quiet, and then tears were soaking through his shirt.

"My mom…" she wailed. "It's my mom…!"

Roxas didn't say anything because he felt a burning in his throat, and he was certain that if he opened his mouth he was going to throw up again.

Tidus had been right. He was weak.

**xXx**

"Nam, Mom wants to see you."

Naminé looked her brother in the eye and rose from her seat. Everything about the situation made Roxas's heart beat loudly and painfully. He grabbed onto the blonde girl's wrist and forced her to turn around to look at him.

"You want me to come with you?" he asked. Naminé stared at him for a moment, everything about her eyes screaming "yes", but then, reluctantly, she shook her head. "You sure?" She nodded, a little more certainly this time, and he relinquished his grip just enough for her to break free of it. She and Tidus disappeared into the hospital room. The door shut with a click, and then all was quiet.

Roxas gulped back his anxiety and tried not to look anywhere but his shoes. The hospital was a scary, silent place. Everything was too white and clean for his liking, and he felt like he was by all by himself in the world. He felt this deep emotion inside of him, a mixture of sorrow and regret, which was pretty ridiculous since Mrs. Clark wasn't even his own mother.

But he felt like she should've been.

Maybe if she had been, he could've taken care of her. She would've had proper healthcare. She would have had a better chance of survival. Naminé would've had a good job and the kind of life she deserved. Tidus would have been like any average high school boy and could've experimented with sports, clubs, even the arts.

Roxas had never really noticed it, but upon reflection, the Clark family was truly in a miserable state. They, as individuals, were all bright, cheery people, but when you looked at everything they'd gone through, you wonder if anyone could live through it all. Naminé must've watched as all her opportunities passed her by, and Tidus would soon be experiencing the same thing.

If only he could something, anything!

Roxas shook his head and felt the familiar nausea bubble in his stomach once again. He couldn't think of anything. It was too late for Mrs. Clark. Far too late. But her children—particularly Tidus, who had so many years ahead of him—still had a chance. He remembered Mrs. Clark's deep regret and the glassy sheen that came over her eyes as she told him about her two most beloved people in the entire world. He felt duty-bound to them somehow. There was a reason for Naminé and his fateful meeting and all the times afterward, and this was it. He was going to help put the pieces of Naminé's life back where they belonged.

The door opened, startling Roxas from his train of thought. Tidus crept out, looking uncharacteristically timid.

"Tidus," Roxas called, and the boy turned, looking much paler than a few minutes ago. "What's going on?"

"I'm getting Mom a glass of water." Tidus blinked a few times, subtly trying to remove the marks of sadness in his eyes. Roxas bit his lip sympathetically and rose from his seat, feeling much older than he was.

"Don't worry about that. I'll get it. You should spend time with your mom." Roxas could swear he felt a cold breeze fly right through him as he said that. He knew what he was insinuating, and Tidus knew too. They locked gazes for a moment or two, and then Tidus turned and went back inside as if the conversation had never taken place at all.

**xXx**

Roxas located the water cooler, and, looking at it, realized he was really thirsty. He chugged down a paper cup-full and then filled Mrs. Clark's. He could see his distorted image in the thick plastic, and realized that no one had recognized him the whole day. He didn't have that cool, attractive aura around him at all—he could feel it. All he felt was shaky. He could still taste his morning breath and wished that he had coffee in his hand, not water. Melancholy was taking its toll on him.

He shook his head and realized that getting the water to the cancer patient was much more important than his appearance. He turned to continue back to the room when a group of doctors ran by him, nearly knocking the water out of his hand.

At first he felt annoyed. The hospital was no place for running around. What if a patient had been walking there? And then a terror swept over him, and he raced down the hallway, forgetting about the paper cup in his hand, droplets of water sailing through the air.

"Nam—"

"Roxas!" There was a high-pitched screech and a smaller body collided with his. The flurry of doctors raced into the hospital room. He could hear the voice of a teenage boy yelling and cursing, and he stepped forward into the room, one arm around Naminé, and he could see Mrs. Clark, convulsing and throwing up buckets and buckets of blood.

"MOM!!! WHAT—?! MOM!!!" Tidus swore and screamed, and nurses were tugging on him, trying to persuade him to leave the room. Roxas stared at Mrs. Clark, the way she heaved and shook. She gasped and her nails tore at her sheets from the pain, but she didn't cry.

She seemed ready.

"M-Mrs…" Roxas began, but his voice disappeared, completely evaporated in the clamouring and the screaming and the gasping and the upchucking. Naminé shook and sobbed and he could feel her little heart pounding against his own, and he looked down at her, and then back at Mrs. Clark –and then lights were flashing before his eyes and he couldn't concentrate on one thing. He felt sick, and everything was spinning, and the chaos was all mixing together. He stumbled forward onto an unsuspecting Naminé, who couldn't even look up at him because of her state.

And, just like that, everything around him dimmed, and his eyelids felt heavy. He watched subconsciously as the nurses pushed Tidus out of the room, and then he could feel the uncomfortable closeness of him and Naminé as he felt mysterious forces lead him away beside Tidus.

"Naminé," was the last groggy thing he said before everything went pitch black and nothing no longer made sense.

_I'm weak, you know?_

**You guys are the best! Thanks for following this story! More will be up sometime soon!**

**Anyways, Valentine's Day is coming up! Any plans, mes amis? None for me, besides seeing that movie, **_**Valentine's Day**_**, with a bunch of my friends. Y'know, the one with all those pretty people?**

**I hope you have a great weekend!!! :D**

**Read and review!**

**Kamsahamnidah!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Roxas, Naminé, Tidus, etc.**

**Author's Note: Okay, guys. It has been ALMOST A YEAR since my last update. And I know this is totally inexcusable. Especially since we've just reached a turning point in the story and fast approaching the end! It's just…well…life happened. My exams start in two weeks and I positively **_**stink**_** at Science, so I'm so worried! Plus I have all this damn good-for-nothing English work. *sigh* Life sucks! I really, really missed talking to you guys! **

**Warning: **_**Romeo and Juliet**_** references. Again. I know, shoot me now. **

**Quick Author Babble: I really want to go to Leaky Con in July! I would kill to go, no kidding! **

Chapter 18: Mourning Mercutio

Naminé watched Roxas as he slept, envying his obliviousness to their surroundings. She wished she could just faint already, slip into a peaceful blackness that would put her out of her misery.

Her fingers passed over his cheek without her command, and she could see his eyelids quiver with a slight recognition before relaxing once more. He was so beautiful; his golden hair and tanned skin so colourful; his presence too bright for the ugly, white hospital that was her mother's deathbed. Even her hand, bony and pale, seemed wrong on his face.

She could sense Tidus's presence behind her, his gloomy shadow passing over her as he drifted closer.

"Naminé," he said, his voice heavy with irritation, "just leave him. I want to go home."

Naminé's lip quivered. What home? There was nothing for them to return to but an empty house, cold and lifeless. She didn't want to walk in and have to look at what remained of her mother—a few scattered clothes and an indent on the couch in front of the TV.

She closed her eyes so nothing could fall out and replied, "We can't leave him here. You saw how he is with hospitals. He was absolutely terrified."

Roxas was the perfect excuse. An excuse for her fear to hide behind; an excuse to escape her misery; an excuse to experience love.

"Listen, Naminé!" Tidus's voice rose and his voice cracked midway through her name. Naminé kept her back to him, trying not to shake. She knew when he got upset, he was pretty much impossible to stop. Not much had changed since he was five in his tantrum days. "I am not staying in this rotting hellhole any longer! Do you hear me? I'm not letting your wimpy boyfriend ruin my…_our_ life anymore!"

She spun around in shock and anger. "What are you talking about? What has Roxas ever done to you?"

Tidus's expression became hard, his cobalt eyes narrowing.

"Come on, Naminé. Look at him. He's just a distraction." His right hand clenched into his fist, and he gritted his teeth, the tendons in his neck bulging. "He separated you from mom. He tore us apart. That's why…that's why she…" He released a heavy breath as if he was going to cry, but the tears remained hidden behind his eyes. "If he had never asked you out, none of this would have happened! Mom wouldn't have stressed over you and you would have been there at home—"

"Enough!" shouted Naminé.

"NO, NOT ENOUGH!" he screeched, and they both jumped at the terror in his voice. Tidus slammed his fist against the door, flexing his fingers slowly and taking in a few calming breaths. His voice strained, he said, "Nothing will ever be enough. Mom is dead. And it's that bastard's fault, and he doesn't even care." His eyes took on a watery sheen and he impatiently rubbed at them.

"Roxas had nothing to do with this," Naminé interjected quickly, but she felt shaky. She didn't doubt Roxas's innocence, but his effect on her, she suddenly realized, may have very well played a huge part in her mother's end. She had been too careless. She wasn't supposed to be that happy. She hadn't even noticed the suffering in her own home, she was so busy with lousy love. Tidus was right. Maybe everything had stressed her out. Maybe if she had been there that night, she could've stopped it, she could've known how. "Don't go placing blame. Mom's death was completely natural. And just because you're upset, you can't take it out on other people."

Nothing had quite sunk in yet. She felt like the words spilling out of her mouth carried no weight, and by Tidus's scoff, she could tell he thought the same.

"Jeez, Naminé, I'm just so sick of—"

A groan cut through his sentence and Naminé's head snapped back to see Roxas shifting underneath the white hospital sheet. His hand reached up to his hair and pulled at it with such ferocity Naminé thought a chunk would come out. She gripped his other hand, a sudden rush of worry and shock washing over her, brushing her mother, for a quick second, out of her mind.

"Roxas? What's the matter?"

His voice came out in a slurred, whiny drawl. "Ah, God. My head. It hurts…" He made a hissing sound with his teeth, his eyelids wrinkled with pain. Naminé grimaced guiltily, adding pressure to her boyfriend's hand. He had blacked out so suddenly and her attention had been so taken by her mother, she had barely noticed him going unconscious beside her. Needless to say, when he collapsed, the back of his head hit the floor with a loud, squishy thump. Two nurses were called in, and the female nurse started squealing when she noticed that the unconscious man was in fact Roxas Hernandez. The male nurse didn't seem very impressed.

"I'll get a nurse," said Naminé, and began to get up. But Roxas's hand held her back.

"No need. It's just a headache." With another quiet hiss, he sank into his pillows and was quiet. "Look at me. I'm pathetic. You should be the one resting, not me."

Naminé opened her mouth to say something like "don't be like that", but all that came out under the surveillance of Roxas's concerned sapphire eyes were a few racking sobs and a flood of tears. Roxas's worried expression swam before her when she opened her eyes.

"W-What am I going to do?" she sniffled. The question suddenly burned hard in her mind, like someone had branded it onto her brain.

"Do?" Roxas asked patiently.

"I don't know what to feel." She wiped at her watery eyes. "I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with something like this. I've known for a long time that this would happen someday, but I never thought…thought I'd be this confused. And…" The whole world went blurry again. "Alone." She released another sob. Thinking of her mother left her in a complete state of bewilderment. When her father had died, she had her mother to comfort her. But now she had no one. She felt a sense of loss so deep that it was like an open wound on her heart, but at the same time she wanted to push herself to think practically and how she was going to handle Tidus, work, and the house on her own. She was now, officially, the head of the family, and she felt isolated—trapped—in her own emotions and responsibilities.

Roxas took her hand gently in his. "You aren't alone. You have me."

Tidus coughed from behind her. "And me," he reminded them. His voice was a little shaky, and Naminé couldn't help smiling when he said, "You'll always have me."

**xXx**

Words could not explain the suffering Naminé felt as she stared at her empty house. Nothing looked quite right. The usually buzzing living room was empty, the air seemed mustier than usual, and there was a heavy dampness that chilled Naminé to the bone.

"This house is dead," she muttered between her clenched teeth. "Gone like my mother." She could feel Roxas's eyes watching her, but was too ashamed of her current fury with her mother's seemingly unfair abandonment that she couldn't face him.

Tidus wordlessly stumbled up the stairs, but before closing his bedroom door, mumbled a "goodnight" even though it was only five o'clock. Naminé took this to mean he wasn't going to be having dinner that evening. She didn't seem to have much of an appetite herself, really. She glanced at the living room her mother had consistently inhabited and carefully went around it on her way to the kitchen. She could sense Roxas's ghost of a presence following her noiselessly, waiting with infinite patience for her to speak, but her heart felt empty, and her brain was seemed to be full of bees, buzzing so loudly that no thought could be heard.

Seeing her pale, lifeless body with glassy eyes that would never open again had been merely a nightmare. Coming home without her was a dreadful and unwelcome reality that shook her up so badly she felt like she would never be whole again. Naminé was an untuned radio, unable to communicate with anyone except through a continuous, silent scream.

She thoughtlessly took out their family-sized Sunny-D and poured herself a glass.

"Sunny-D?" she offered Roxas in monotone. "It's not much, but it's all we have."

He gave an agreeable nod and the weakest of smiles and she poured again. But this time, right before her eyes, the silky stream of liquid slowly turned from orange to red, watery into thick, until she was pouring her own mother's blood from her butchered lungs, the vengeful laughter of the tumor that sucked at her life until there was nothing left. Naminé released a choked squeak and the plastic bottle fell to the floor, spilling out seventy-five percent of its contents along the way. Almost immediately, the blood morphed back into Sunny-D, where it lay harmlessly drowning in its own juices. Almost as if on cue, Roxas and Naminé dove to save it in the same second, resulting in a clunking of skulls and a pain that Naminé could not feel. Roxas could certainly feel it, judging from his yelp, but then ignored it and unquestioningly started mopping up the tangy puddle with a continuous stream of paper towels. Naminé watched as one by one, the absorbent white papers met their soggy fate. She watched Roxas's face, the only thing in her world that still seemed unbroken, and his blue eyes, rimmed with concern but coloured deeper with sensitivity. With a peculiar fascination, she took in his angelic features, his dutiful hands as he worked, his bent knees, one wet from landing in Sunny-D, his tousled hair and creased clothes from endless hours of worry.

Inexplicably, she suddenly felt such a passionate and overwhelming love for him that she almost choked on it. She had to suck in oxygen; it was so hard to breathe. How could such a perfect creature, an anomaly of a human being, care about her grotesque, soulless self? She was sure that if someone cut her open, they would just find an endless blackness and iciness.

"Naminé?" Roxas spoke, his voice shockingly clear through the static in her head.

"Hm?" Naminé replied, calmly ignoring her deeply-rooted love and sorrow as they took turns trying to kill her.

"What's on your mind?" His voice was smooth and warm, like the scent of cookies in the oven – inviting and loving, trying to lure her into confiding in him.

"Nothing," she answered truthfully, and the buzzing grew stronger, the chokehold of love cutting off her windpipe as Roxas's cerulean eyes traveled back to the task at hand in disappointment.

"Okay," he said, his voice agreeable and unquestioning, but his expression violently opposed him.

**xXx**

It was late, around ten o'clock, and Roxas and Naminé had exchanged no words since the Sunny-D incident. Naminé had just ended up throwing hers down the sink when the sickly sweetness of the drink made her bitter heart scream in pain. Naminé loved sugar, and she wanted nothing that she valued to be near her. She wanted to be nothing but miserable, just disappear into the dark depths of her depression. Roxas's insistence to stay with her made this very difficult. Even though he had never told her he would stay, she knew that he wouldn't leave.

They'd been sitting at the counter most of the night, Naminé listening to her unnerving swarm of bees as they fought against the confines of her skull for freedom. She had no idea what was entertaining Roxas for so long, but he made no attempt to speak or find something to amuse himself.

Naminé, as suddenly and strongly as she had felt her adoration for Roxas, needed a change of scenery. She stood from the counter breakfast stools and made her way to the small, peeling dining table. This time, she did not check if Roxas was following her. She let her eyes travel over the plank of wood, thinking of all the meals she and her mother had shared on it, all the memories she had taken for granted. Just as she could feel her tears escaping, her gaze hit an alien thing that did not belong in any of her memories with her mother. It was refreshing and a little sad as the vision of her young self and her mother and their buffet of remembered food disappeared due to the object's magnetic pull to reality. She picked it up—a cheap, dog-eared paperback that looked like it had survived World War II. After a quick once-over, it became more familiar.

"_Romeo and Juliet_," Naminé stated out loud, just because the constant noise in her head made it possible for her to register it internally.

"What?" Roxas asked quizzically from behind her.

"_Romeo and Juliet_," she repeated. It made her feel a bit better to be able to converse normally. "Tidus's English homework over the summer."

"Ha! High school. Those were the days."

Naminé could imagine Roxas in high school, being popular and beautiful and good at everything. She could see crowds of students parting so he could pass by.

"I bet you had it easy, Mr. Popular," she said, allowing herself a dry laugh.

"Mr. Popular! Good one." Roxas shook his head. "Believe it or not, Naminé, I wasn't _always_ famous. In fact, at my old school I was this big drama geek. The other guys would push me around all the time." He rolled his eyes. "Small-town bastards. Glad I got the hell out of the there."

Naminé stared at him. Try as she might, she couldn't imagine Roxas _not_ being famous. She couldn't see how anyone could look at him and not immediately admire him, let alone think of him as inferior.

The cacophony in her head became so loud that she had to distract herself from the troublesome thought. She began flipping through _Romeo and Juliet_, skimming through vaguely familiar passages that she remembered from the distant past. Her smooth flipping was interrupted by a particularly crinkled page, but when she went to manually turn it, she found herself staring at what she found to be the most tragic point in the play, when Romeo's best friend Mercutio is killed in a duel.

"'O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio's dead!/That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,/Which too untimely here did scorn the earth,'" she read. She could feel Roxas's fixed gaze on her back, but continued anyway. "'This day's black fate on more days doth depend;/This but begins the woe…'" The lines were suddenly blurry, spiralling into an illegible barcode.

"Naminé." Immediately Roxas's arm was around her. Suddenly she could feel it, the warm tracks of her tears already drenching her face. She didn't know what to do; the buzzing was so loud that she couldn't even hear her own voice. Any attempts at a sentence turned into sputters. She screamed, to get over the noisy wall, so Roxas could hear her.

"Why did Mercutio have to die?" she screeched. "He didn't do anything! Nothing! So why was he killed? Why? Why did he die?"

By the end of her rant, the words were nothing but gargling screams; Roxas slowly sank with her to the floor, where she buried her face in his shoulder and screamed and cried some more, until she had no more voice or water left in her body.

When she had finished, she was shaking so hard from the shock of her release she didn't even realize the buzzing was gone. The silence and Roxas's warmth made her instantly calm, only releasing the occasional hiccup now and then.

"I loved Mercutio," she said in a hoarse whisper, so quiet even Roxas could barely hear.

"Everyone loved Mercutio," he replied, and she nodded at that, for she knew it to be true.

**I KNOW. I AM SO DEEP. **

…**Not. Yay for ridiculously obvious metaphors! **

**At the end you will notice that I have a much better flow than in the first half. That's because I HAD MAJOR WRITER'S BLOCK for a good half of this chapter. So my writing sucked! I hope you managed to read this monstrosity until the end, so you can see my apology here! Sorry for such a terrible update! You'd think it would be good after all that time!**

**So sorry!**

**Thank you **_**so **_**much for reading!**

**And I love me some reviews! (Even though I probably lost, like, half my readers in the past year.) **

**TTYL! **


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